Tuesday, February 19, 2013
The Hunt
Perhaps the most famous scene from The Rules of the Game involves the scene in which the Marquis' guests shoot rabbit and pheasant beaten from the forest by the gamekeeper. What is so distinctive and striking about the scene? Why does it pack such an emotional punch? What is the deeper significance or symbolism of this scene?
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The hunt sequence is definitely one of the most memorable sequences in Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game, in large part due to its very distinctive visual style. For most of the film, Renoir uses long takes of his characters interacting, increasing the realism and natural feel of the film. The viewer is never really jarred or shaken; only the events of the story cause such feelings. Even in such notable scenes as Andre’s landing after his cross-Atlantic flight and the arrival of the many guests to the chateau does the image remain fluid and rarely jumps. However, from the very beginning of the hunt, this mood changes entirely. Suddenly, the scene is comprised of numerous quick, wild cuts, as the humans fire their weapons and the rabbits and pheasants scramble – often unsuccessfully – out of the way. As Faulkner notes in his essay on the movie, although the scene is less than one twenty-sixth of the film, it includes around a seventh of the shots in the film (Geiger and Rutsky, 303), clearly a hugely disproportional amount. This jarring visual style is far more visceral and head-turning than that of any other sequence in the film, and so it immediately grabs the viewer’s attention and sticks with him/her all the way through the rest of the movie.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the deeper significance of the scene may be even more powerful than its initial response, at least once the film is complete. While the hunt seems in the moment to be just an outing, it gains immense symbolism at the very end of the movie when Andre is shot by Shumacher. Poacher Marceau notes that the man fell forward and quivered like a “fallen rabbit” when hit, and thus makes the comparison quite explicit: Andre is like a rabbit in the world of the bourgeoisie, an outsider who does not belong and must therefore be eliminated. Robert notes before the hunt that while he does not want fences around his property but he also does not rabbits, leaving only one real solution to his problem. Similarly, Andre’s death seems to be the only way to resolve conflict that has overtaken Robert’s perfect noble life, and so, though he would never commit such a foul deed himself, Robert subliminally needs him to perish. Rabbits and pheasants are merely game to be hunted, creatures that momentarily have value to the happy hunters but then cease to matter. So too does Andre ultimately have no value to Robert, his guests, and even to Christine; all will go inside after the announcement of his “accident” (however disputed the term may be) and move on with their lives. Only Octave, himself an outsider and definitely aware of it, and Marceau, a man who clearly does not belong on the chateau, take the chance to start fresh and leave behind the hypocrisy of their comrades. However, by making the hunt sequence so important and memorable, Renoir urges audiences to take the opposite perspective: Andre, like the innocent rabbits, should be remembered and pitied. He has been sacrificed to appease the shallow, corrupt social order of the elite, and thus he is ultimately the film’s tragic hero. Unlike Robert and his guests, we should not move on with our evening, but, for Andre’s sake, try to become better.
The scene with the rabbits is definitely the scene that I thought brought about the most attention. I think that this scene was so troubling to us is that they were shooting the rabbits and the actual rabbits were actually dying; however, this is not whey this scene is important. This scene is almost a foreshadowing of the rest of the movie. All the guests at the house are preparing for the hunt, and are preparing for the party at the same time. In order for the party to happen and be successful, they need to kill a certain amount of rabbits. At the same time, we know that the Chesney does not want Andre around because he believes that Andre is going to try and take his wife from him. This is where I agree with Russell – he states that he wants the rabbits off of his property, and when Andre died and the Chesney said he fell like a “Fallen Rabbit”, it is almost him saying that he wants Andre to die like the rabbits did. For the Chesney, he did not want Andre (the rabbits) to be around, but cannot have a fence to keep the rabbits (Andre) out. When Andre was shot at the end, he did fall just like a rabbit would, just like they showed in the elongated hunting scene. I think the length of the hunting scene and the amount of rabbits that they show dying is a way for them to show the importance of the scene without making it obvious.
ReplyDeleteIn Renoir's iconic hunt scene in The Rules of the Game, the film takes on a distinctly violent quality that contrasts heavily with the tight dramatic temperament of the film, mostly conveyed through long takes and powerful dialogue. Russell and Jacob have already touched on the uniqueness of the scene in terms of the filmmaking devices utilized: a rapid succession of 50 startling shots crammed in to a four minute time frame, fractured flow, a montage of simultaneous events, loud and irregular sounds, etc.. This section of the film is so distinctive that one could even draw parallels to a unsettling war film, not merely in subject matter but in technique. The gun shots sound at irregular intervals, simultaneously startling the audience and drawing them into a lull from the bombardment of stimulating elements. The noises made by the tree whackers are unsettling for the audience as their growls and whistling bird calls mix with the constant tick-tick of the wooden bats hitting the trees. Needless to say, there is a lot to take in at once. In war movies, we have a similar bombardment of sound and action on screen. Common to both are the quick cuts between short immobile shots and rapid panning shots where the viewer catches only a glimpse of detail. The effect is a heightened sensual punch. It is more startling, jarring, and emotionally wrenching. Were the hunt scene filmed from a few immobile wide shots, the violent sensations would be far less effective. The fact that the style which Renoir conducts this scene is also a clear departure from the rest of the movie also heightens the startling impact of the scene.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of the significance of the hunt scene in the context of the movie, Jacob and Russell have already thoroughly highlighted the manner in which the scene foreshadows the tragic ending and parallels the social tensions between Robert and Andre. I would like to offer my interpretation of the scene that focuses on the broader concept of power. My first reaction to the scene was one of intimidation. The hunt is a ritual affair that utilizes age old hunting techniques for collecting the most possible game. It is a highly efficient system where the tree whackers circle around the outskirts of the brush, making noise and scaring the rabbits and pheasants out of their hiding places. The animals jump out of their holes and off their trees, scurrying away from the sound. They are unwittingly coerced into an open central location without any low bushes where they are effortlessly shot down by the hunters bearing rifles. With all the hunters poised around the clearing, there is really no hope for the animals. The process is refined to an almost mechanical level and the violence intrinsic in the act adds to the deplorable nature of it all. The huntsmen, the operators of this death machine, exude an emotionless determination to kill the animals. It is a fierce demonstration of power conducted by Robert and the rest of the bourgeois class, used to establish their dominance and, on a symbolic level, warn Andre, the interloper, that his friendly intrusion will meet with stringent opposition. If only Robert kept his manner on as tight a leash as the organized ritual hunt, Andre would have been disposed of much earlier. What is kind of interesting is that there are some clear parallels between the hunt scene and the nature of the impending WWII, in which the Nazi's herded the Jews like rabbits unwittingly into the clearing of the concentration camps where they were effortlessly exterminated. But this could not have been an intention of Renoir as the film was released before the war (and Robert is Jewish- but then again that could be just be irony).
ReplyDeleteThe hunt scene, in my opinion, was the most disturbing and traumatic out of the entire movie because it created a sense of fear. For me, this sense of fear came from knowing that the shootings were real, and not faked for the movie. This caused the scene to create an emotional impact because it made me feel helpless, and unable to do anything but watch and wait. The fact that the film had numerous cuts between the awaiting hunters and the terrified animals created anticipation for the audience even though we knew what was going to happen. Had the scene not been as dramatic and the death of each animal so brutal, I do not think it would have created such a commotion and would not have attracted as much attention. As for the deeper significance and symbolism of this scene; there are many underlying messages. The famous hunt scene represents the social culture and tensions between the Andre and Robert (Upper/Middle Class and the Lower Class), and paralleling the final scene and death of Andre. Andre’s death is the resolution to the conflict of the trouble arising between the classes during his affair with Christine. His death is disregarded and commented about being as insignificant as a rabbit and necessary. Andre’s death signifies the re-alignment of the social classes by getting rid of the outsider and then having everything go back to the way it was. Andre is similar to the rabbits, because like the animals he has managed to get inside, there is no gate to keep them out, but his time is limited like the animals and slowly we know he is going to share their fate.