Jean Renoir’s 1939 film, Rules of the Game or La Règle du Jeu, portrays the intricate love affairs of the upper class and servants of French society. While the film is mainly centred around the romantic involvement between Christine, a married woman of high society, and André, a heroic pilot, there are several minor characters that have important roles. During a social gathering at the country estate belonging to Christine’s husband Marquis Robert, Christine’s niece, Jackie, played by Anne Mayen, is introduced.
Jackie is an educated woman who also shares strong feelings for André. Her affection is revealed during her initial interaction with André as well as through a later conversation she has with another guest where she declares her attraction and voices her concern about André not having any interest in her. Besides her feelings for André, little to nothing is known about Jackie. This then creates the expectation that her character will focus solely on him in future scenes and she does just that. As Ernest Mathijs notes “…it is important for someone in an ensemble cast to act in the way the audience expects, and to make use of that expectation in their playing with (or off) other cast members” (90). Jackie’s character lacks development and does not get the opportunity to express herself other than as a woman in love. Her entire story revolves around André and the hope that he will reciprocate her feelings. Unaware of the affair between her aunt and her love interest, throughout the film Jackie continues her hope for a romantic relationship to arise between her and André.
Although she does not receive much screen time, Jackie’s character serves an important function in the film. When André is killed at the end, Jackie’s sorrow provides a distraction that draws away the attention that otherwise would have been cast onto Christine and André’s affair. Her hysteria shifts the focus towards herself rather than Christine’s reaction to André’s death, which could have revealed there was something more than platonic between them. Despite being a minor character and having a minuscule part, Jackie has a valuable role in the film, particularly in the end.
Works Cited
La Règle du Jeu. Directed by Jean Renoir, Nouvelle Édition Française, 1939.
Mathijs, Ernest. “Referential Acting and the Ensemble Cast.” Screen, vol. 52, no. 1, 2011, pp. 89-96. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy.tru.ca/10.1093/screen/hjq063.
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