Dir: Jean Renoir | Cast: Nora Gregor, Gaston Modot, Paulette Dubost, Mila Parély, Marcel Dalio, Julien Carette, Roland Toutain | France, Drama 110’
Some of the recent choices in critics polls for the greatest films of all time have been getting pretty idiosyncratic of late but my own nomination for the top spot remains ‘La Regle du Jeu‘, which plainly served as the template for Robert Altman’s ‘Gosford Park’ which in turn became ‘Downtown Abbey’. (Although the resemblance to ‘Upstairs Downstairs’ may be just a coincidence).
Set like many films in a huge country house but unusually depicting it as a fully functioning entity it remains a film of overwhelming humanity staged with a vibrancy that should make it compulsory viewing for all aspiring filmmakers. @RichardChatten