RENOIR, JEAN

born Sept. 15, 1894, Paris, France died Feb. 12, 1979, Los Angeles, Calif., U.S. French film director, son of the Impressionist painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir. His films, in both silent and later eras, were noted for their realism and strong narrative and include such classics as Grand Illusion (1937), The Rules of the Game (1939), and The River (1951). Additional reading Clia Bertin, Jean Renoir: A Life in Pictures (1991), chronicles his life. Critical analyses of his films are contained in Andr Bazin, Jean Renoir, ed. by Franois Truffaut (1973, reissued 1992); Raymond Durgnat, Jean Renoir (1974); Leo Braudy, Jean Renoir: The World of His Films (1972, reprinted 1989); and Christopher Faulkner, The Social Cinema of Jean Renoir (1986).