Rules of the Game

Les règles du jeu

DIRECTORS: Claudine Bories, Patrice Chagnard   COUNTRY: France   YEAR: 2014   LANGUAGE(S): French   SUBTITLES: German   RUNNING TIME: 106 min  

SECTION: International Forum 2015

SYNOPSIS

In the 1930s, Jean Renoir exposed the hypocrisy and mendacity that lie in the “rules” of the French bourgeoisie in his masterpiece LA REGLE DU JEU. The film provides the title for Claudine Bories and Patrice Chagnard’s impressive study of young people trying to find work through an employment agency. Full of empathy, they unmask the unwritten rules of the modern labor market, which put external appearances and employability over character and skills. Like Renoir, the directors have succeeded in making a wonderful social comedy.

Lolita refuses to laugh. Kévin doesn’t know how to dress. Hamid doesn’t like bosses. Thierry can’t sell himself. They’re 20 years old. They have no qualifications. They’re looking for work. But they have little chances in a labor market that seeks young and courageous individualists who can sell themselves accordingly. A private employment agency in the economically underdeveloped northern city of Lille has six months to make them fit for work. It’s not easy for the young jobseekers to get the hang of marketing themselves. Full of empathy for its protagonists, the documentary exposes a system in which it is more important to impart a good self-image than to have qualifications and skills.

CLAUDINE BORIES & PATRICE CHAGNARD
Claudine Bories, born in 1942, is a French director and scriptwriter. Patrice Chagnard studied Philosophy at the Sorbonne and directed TV documentaries. He was the president of ADDOC, a group that brings together French documentarists. Bories and Chagnard met at the ADDOC association in 1995 and have collaborated since 2005. THE ARRIVALS and RULES OF THE GAME have both been awarded the Golden Dove for Best International Documentary at DOK Leipzig.

FILMOGRAPHY

Claudine Bories
Juliette du côté des hommes (1981), La fille du magicien (1990), Monsieur contre madame (1999), The Arrivals (2009), Rules of the Game (2014)

Patrice Chagnard
Quelque chose de l’arbre, du fleuve et du cri du peuple (1980), Le convoi (1996), The Arrivals (2009), Rules of the Game (2014)

SCRIPT: Claudine Bories, Patrice Chagnard   PRODUCERS: Muriel Meynard, Patrick Sobelman   CAMERA: Patrice Chagnard  EDITOR: Stéphanie Goldschmidt  

PRODUCTION: Ex Nihilo, Les Films du Parotier   WORLD SALES: Hannah Horner, Doc & Film International