The themes of "Rules of the Game" are all about conflict—first the eternal conflict between generations, then the equally well-established yet less clear-cut conflict between authority and intelligence. There is also the more equal and cerebral conflict involved in a game of chess.
The answer is hyperbole. It is very unlikely that there was absolutely no money, absolutely nothing to buy, and absolutely nowhere to go. A hyperbole is a gross exaggeration, meaning that what is being said has been expanded to prove a point.
