Renoir's "Rules" Japan Release?

[dburall1@rochester.rr.com]

This has been a fascinating thread for me, and has me racking my brain for the titles of art house foreign features I saw in Kansai (Osaka or Kyoto) during 1976-77. 

I have a dim memory of having seen _Rules_ (double billed with Duvivier's _Pepe le Moko_--unless I am truly fantasizing), but it is so dim that I wasn't going to mention it until Ayako mentioned below the possibility of 4 screenings of the film in the 1970s. I'm also hesitant because the only detail I remember (or at least think I remember) is that the venue was the same one at which I saw Satyajit Ray's _Pather Panchali_, so I think it featured foreign "classics" on at least a fairly regular basis.

 I seem to remember that at the time there were several opportunities to see revival cinema and more recent second-third run titles (foreign and domestic, often offered as triple billings for about 500 yen) in Kyoto and Osaka at the time. Often these were all-nighters, which might explain my dim memory. But one thing I am sure of is that my impression of 1970s Japanese film as anything but "dead" comes from having attending such screenings. 

Thanks to everyone who has supplied background details.

Joanne Bernardi


---- frannyandzoey at infoseek.jp wrote: 
> As many responses indicated, yes, the Rules of the Game was apparently screened before its official theatrical release in 1982. I myself haven't got around to checking the details, but one helpful piece of information can be found in the catalogue of 1996-7 Jean Renoir retrospective at the NFC, "Jean Renoir Eiga no Subete." It has quite a detailed bibliography of Japanese materials about Renoir, and under the film title, it lists the articles written about the film. It appears that from a publication issued in 1962 August 13, by Film Library Kyogikai, in "???????????????????(2)" the film was screened, but probably without subtitles. It is followed by another screening in 1967. I'm not sure if the pre-restoration version was actually screened in Tokyo in the 1950s as Mr Grilli mentioned (though it's quite possible the pre-restored version was screened at Nichifutsu). But according to the list of publications referred in the NFC retrospective catalogue!
>  , it could be assumed that screenings were twice in the 1960s and 4 times in the 70s, and once in the 80s before the theatrical release in September. I'm quite positive that the list in the catalogue is quite reliable. I hope this information is helpful.Ayako SaitoMeiji Gakuin University
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> ???: "Frako Loden" 
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> ??: 08/08/28 01:33
> ??: Renoir's "Rules" Japan Release?
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> Renoir's "Rules" Japan
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