Since then I've now seen La Regle du jeu. It's a film to admire rather than like. There is a hunting scene in it where the shooting party are shooting at birds, squirrels etc and it is hard to watch as there is no doubt that these are being killed. It is a prolonged scene.
Citizen Kane is admired by critics for its technical aspects rather than being liked. A lot of the credit should go to Gregg Toland for his cinematography. Orson Welles recognised that in the credits by having Toland's credit appearing on the same credit card as his own - that is very rare.
4 years before Citizen Kane was made Gregg Toland did the photography for Dead End. I think it's the opening scene where there is a camera shot from a high up point in New York and the shot slowly descends into a New York slum area. It has similarites to the technique he used in Citizen Kane but it's Citizen Kane which got the praise.