In The Rules of the Game (1939), I passed on what I
knew to the public. But this is something that people do not like; the truth
makes them feel uncomfortable. [The film was a resounding flop, to which the
reaction was a kind of loathing. . . . the public as a whole regarded it as a personal
insult. . . . At every session I attended I could feel the unanimous
disapproval of the audience.] A quarter of a century later I gave a lecture at
Harvard University. The Rules of the Game was showing at a nearby
cinema. There was a burst of cheering when I appeared on the platform. The
students were applauding the film. Since then its reputation has steadily
grown. What seemed an insult to society in 1939 has become clear-sightedness.
But the fact remains that the failure of The Rules of the Game so depressed me that I resolved either to give up the cinema or to leave France.