Movie Comparison

Posted: August 25th, 2021

Movie Comparison

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Introduction

            The Rules of the Game is a French film produced in 1939 and directed by Jean Renoir. It is set in the period just before the Second World War among a well-up class of French citizens displaying their romantic behavior and their servants. It was a widely acclaimed movie of its time particularly due to its introduction of unrivaled cinematography techniques and popular actor and actresses’ selection. It also received criticism from both critics and the audiences forcing several adjustments to be made. Consequently, it became one of the most studied movies of all time. I Vitelloni, on the other hand, is an Italian movie whose director was Federico Fellini. It features the story of five young men in a small Italian town, who are wholly dependent on their parents’ for survival. They are at a point where the decisions they make could either build or destroy their lives. The latter movie was produced in 1953. The two movies are comedies produced about a decade apart.  The periods of their productions make a good combination for comparisons in different aspects which will form the basis of this essay.

            The process of filming involves the use of camera work and photography in the process of filming. The filming of The Rules of the Game starts in a place called Sologne in France. The movie uses deep-focus cinematography to express several layers of dialogue and action.  There are several single shots of characters getting and out of rooms in sequences. The deep-focus technique had not been widely used at the time considering the film industry was not well-developed. A notable aspect of the film is the director’s use of camera blocking (Petersen, 2013). This is another technique in cinematography that allows the director to position each character to fit in the frame depending on the timing in the movie’s plot. The cinematography in I Vitelloni differs significantly from that in The Rules of the Game in that the former employs a style of scenes of illusion followed by scenes of action. I Vitelloni is characterized by an imaginative camera use as evidenced by the quick cuts and tilts. It captures the mood of the crowd through the use of tracking shots. It appears that the two movies were produced at a time when cinematic techniques were not well developed. However, the directors appear to have fully mastered the art of camera work.

            Both movies are comedies representing the prevailing trends in the societies in which they are set in a satirical manner. The Rules of the Game features an upper-class society in France, it satirizes the relationships they have by displayed by people who otherwise appear respectable in public. I Vitelloni, satirizes the state of life in Italy by showing young men in their prime years that are unemployed and thus have to live off the sweat of their parents (Smith, 1990). They result in cheap antics such as the stealing of cars to fulfill their desire for adventure.

            The first cut of The Rules of the Game was three hours. However, the final cut released in 1939 was 113 minutes long after consultations between the parties involved. It would later be reduced to 100 minutes. I Vitelloni on the other hand, run for 107 minutes with no major reductions in editing after the issue of the first cut. In terms of the cast and the acting, both movies employ some of the best actors of the time. The major difference is that while The Rules of the Game received a poor caption after its initial release, I Vitelloni receives a public ovation and acclaim from most critics.

             In a nutshell, the two movies bear close resemblance primarily because they belong to the same comedy genre. In addition, the time difference between their productions is about a decade apart. Although they have differences in terms of cinematographic techniques, they are both representations of societies in which they are set.

References

Petersen, A. H. (2013, January 7). The rules of the game. Retrieved from https://www.vqronline.org/articles/rules-game

Smith, M. C. (1990, November 9). Movie review: ‘I Vitelloni’ Is Fellini at his ironic best. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-11-09-ca-4410-story.html