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It\u2019s Jeremiah\u2019s 4th pick: The Rules of the Game, the 1939 film directed by Jean Renoir.

\u2018The Rules of the Game\u2019 was the most expensive film ever made in France at the time of its production and came on the heels of a series of successful films that had made Renoir one of the top French directors. After initial preview screenings that began in June of 1939 and a premier in July that met with low box-office and mixed reviews, a series of edits eventually whittled  the film down from its 113 minute runtime to 85 minute; many of the edits excised Renoir\u2019s own performance, resulting in a much less complex and integral character. By October, the film was banned in France for being "depressing, morbid, immoral [and] having an undesirable influence over the young." A successful 1956 attempt at restoration led to the discovery of negatives and other prints and audio for the film that had been thought lost during World War II. Eventually, with advice from Renoir, a 106 minute cut was assembled that largely restored what had been cut after the film\u2019s post-release failure. This restoration was screened for Renoir in 1959 and reportedly left the director in tears.

Director Satyajit Ray \u2013 whose film, \u2018Pather Panchali,\u2019 we\u2019ll be watching for an upcoming episode \u2013 said of The Rules of the Game: it is \u201ca film that doesn't wear its innovations on its sleeve ... Humanist? Classical? Avant-Garde? Contemporary? I defy anyone to give it a label. This is the kind of innovation that appeals to me."

For our purposes, this is the only film that\u2019s been in the top 10 of Sight & Sound\u2019s critics poll every single time since it began in 1952, when it debuted at number 10 (even before it\u2019s restoration). It then fluctuated between number 2 and number 3 from 1962 to 2002 and was at number 4 in 2012. Additionally, it was on the directors poll in 2002, at number 9. In the 2012 polling, 100 critics had the film on their list \u2013 and 17 directors, including Olivier Assayas, Lawrence Kasdan, Steve McQueen, and Paul Schrader.

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