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Jules and Jim - Criterion Collection |
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Staring:
Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino, Boris Bassiak
Director:
François Truffaut
Average Customer Rating:  
List Price: $39.95
Our Price: $24.69
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Description
Hailed as one of the finest films ever made, legendary director François Truffaut’s early masterpiece Jules and Jim charts the relationship between two friends and the object of their mutual obsession over the course of twenty-five years.
Amazon.com
François Truffaut's third feature, though it's named for the two best friends who become virtually inseparable in pre-World War I Paris, is centered on Jeanne Moreau's Catherine, the most mysterious, enigmatic woman in his career-long gallery of rich female portraits. Adapted from the novel by Henri-Pierre Roché, Truffaut's picture explores the 30-year friendship between Austrian biologist Jules (Oskar Werner) and Parisian writer Jim (Henri Serre) and the love triangle formed when the alluring Catherine makes the duo a trio. Spontaneous and lively, a woman of intense but dynamic emotions, she becomes the axle on which their friendship turns as Jules woos her and they marry, only to find that no one man can hold her. Directed in bursts of concentrated scenes interspersed with montage sequences and pulled together by the commentary of an omniscient narrator, Truffaut layers his tragic drama with a wealth of detail. He draws on his bag of New Wave tricks for the carefree days of youth--zooms, flash cuts, freeze frames--that disappear as the marriage disintegrates during the gloom of the postwar years. Werner is excellent as Jules, a vibrant young man whose slow, melancholy slide into emotional compromise is charted in his increasingly sad eyes and resigned face, while Serre plays Jim as more of an enigma, guarded and introspective. But both are eclipsed in the glare of Moreau's radiant Catherine: impulsive, demanding, sensual, passionate, destructive, and ultimately unknowable. A masterpiece of the French New Wave and one of Truffaut's most confident and accomplished films. --Sean Axmaker
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Could have been a lot better, 2010-04-04
Back when I was in my 20s (a few decades ago), I met a few gals that were like Catherine in Jules and Jim, seriously emotionally underdeveloped. Fortunately for me, I wasn't attracted to them, the malignancy in their personalities had shown through making it clear to me in advance that something wasn't right. And arguing that Catherine may have been a little more subtle than those is contradicted by the outcome of the movie. But the real problem with Jules and Jim is that it just doesn't "build" up to it very well. There's not really a detectable progression, Catherine's character should have been more and more obvious, either through gradual reveal of relevant elements, or by the development of unremarkable characteristics into unusual ones. While there's the isolated jump-in-the-river instance as a bit of a clue, there's little else that leads to where the movie ends up. Frankly, it seemed to me a 1960s free-spirit-Antonioni forerunner until the end bent it more toward fatal attraction.
By the middle of the movie I just figured Jules and Jim were a bit thick in letting Catherine get away with her shenanigans rather than simply giving her the boot. None of the characters were very compelling, I was reminded of all the reviews I've read about movies where the reviewer didn't care about any of the characters-- that seemed to sum it up for me until the ending, which finally showed that the plot wasn't supposed to be (or shouldn't have been, anyway) quite as aimless as it had just appeared.
I suspect the movie is underdeveloped because is was done when Truffaut was still pretty young, before he had the experience to understand the emotional and psychological nuances that would have made this movie one heck of a lot better. Emotional content would really fill out the story here, but as it is, it's a pretty shallow representation. There's certainly far worse movies, but Jules and Jim is nowhere near as good as The 400 Blows.
L'adultere, encore une fois., 2009-12-21
Oh, la vie, les hommes, la folie, l'adultere, la femme, l'art, la mort!
Oh, les francaises!
Virtuosity yes, but..., 2009-12-08
Truffaut reportedly watched some 2,000 movies before making his first one and also spent several years reviewing (rather harshly, I understand) for "Cahiers du cinema." I suppose it could be concluded he came away with a pretty good idea of things NOT to do when he finally got around to making his own movies. If we go by that criterion alone, novelty, J&J is off the charts. But I don't think we should do that because story is still king; style is not quite on par with substance and I hope it never is -- though this movie sure did a lot to encourage that idea, intentionally or otherwise.
What we have here is a woman-child, headstrong, impulsive, manipulative, whose idea of morality is tit-for-tat, and two fellers who are, well, gutless wonders and are unable to understand how one deals with children, of whatever age or sex. Once Catherine starts cheating on Jules with his best friend, Jules turns into Catherine's ... male girlfriend, playing letter carrier and letting her do whatever she wants as if marriage didn't mean anything. Jim is not that much better, dropping everything the minute Catherine calls, including joining her on that fateful last ride at the end. Dude, what were you thinking?
The film has many charming moments, Moreau is delightful and in many scenes so adorable that you almost understand why it must have been so hard to say no to her -- notice I said almost. But at the end of the day, what we have here is a lesson in what NOT to do in life, what to avoid. That's a good lesson to learn from one movie, considering Truffaut had to see 2,000 of them to get there.
Reviewing this DVD release as a whole, the Criterion Collection really went all out! Wonderful DVD release and an enjoyablefilm, 2010-04-06
"The book overwhelmed me. If I ever succeed in making films, I will make `Jules and Jim'". - Francois Truffaut (1955)
Francois Truffaut, one of the founders of the French New Wave, has come off a string of successful films from his 1959 hit "The 400 Blows" and the 1960 film "Shoot the Piano Player". But in 1962, Truffaut was in love with Henri-Pierre Roche's semi-autobiographical novel "Jules et Jim" and having known Roche (as Roche was heavily involved in artistic avante-garde in Paris and the Dada movement), an adaptation of the novel was created.
The film did well in France and eventually captivated critics and viewers and help establish the careers of Jeanne Moreau ("Elevator to the Gallows", "The Lovers") as the quintessential Nouvelle Vague actress and also would show Truffaut's diversity as a director.
VIDEO:
"Jules and Jim" is presented in black and white with the aspect ratio at 2:35:1. According to Criterion, the high-definition digital transfer of the film was supervised by Director of Photography Raoul Coutard and created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm fine-grain master positive made from the original camera negative. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System.
For the most part, the picture quality is very good for a film that was created back in 1962. 48-years-later, the beauty and detail of "Jules and Jim" is showcased through this DVD (and hopefully considered for Blu-ray by the Criterion Collection in the near future). Of course, there is interlacing but for the most part, the film looks great on DVD. Blacks are nice and deep, grays and whites are nicely demonstrated in the film. But again, although this film looks good on DVD, I can only imagine how beautiful it would look via HD on Blu-ray.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
"Jules and Jim" is presented in French ala monaural. According to Criterion, the soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a 35mm magnetic master and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss and crackle. The Dolby Digital 1.0 signal is directed to the center channel. I preferred to listen to audio track via having my receiver set to stereo on all channels and if anything, to hear Jeanne Moreau singing "Le Tourbillon" the best way possible.
Overall, dialogue is clear and understandable. Subtitles are in English.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
"Jules and Jim - THE CRITERION COLLECTION #281 comes with the following special features:
DISC 1:
* Audio Commentary by co-writer Jean Gruault, Truffaut collaborator Suzanne Schiffman, Editor Claudine Bouche and film scholar Annette Insdorf - Audio commentary featuring behind-the-scenes information on the making of certain scenes by those involved with the film to examining certain scenes via film scholar Annette Insdorf and more.
* Audio Commentary Jeane Moreau and Truffaut biographer Serge Toubiana - A touching commentary as Jeanne Moreau reminisces of watching "Jules and Jim" over 40 years later and commenting on various scenes along with Serge Toubiana.
* Excerpts from "The Key to Jules and Jim" - (23:41) The following are excerpts from the 1985 documentary based on Henri-Pierre Roche and the people in his life that inspired his semi-autobiographical book "Jules and Jim".
* Truffaut on Roche - (7:12) A brief interview from the French program "Bibliotheque de poche" (1966) with Francois Truffaut who talks about meeting Henri-Pierre Roche and being inspired by his novel.
* "Jules and Jim" Theatrical Trailer - (3:08) The original theatrical trailer.
DISC 2:
* Truffaut on Truffaut: Cineastes de notre temps (1965) - (8:55) An interview with Francois Truffaut who discusses "Jules and Jim".
* Truffaut on Truffaut: L'Invite du dimanche (1969) - (32:01) Interviews with Francois Truffaut and Jeanne Moreau from "L'Invite du dimanche" on Oct. 1969.
* Truffaut on Truffaut: Truffaut and Roud (1977) - (9:35) An interview with Truffaut with NY Film Festival director Richard Roud for the TV program "Camera Three" from Oct. 1977.
* Truffaut on Truffaut: AFI's Dialogue on Film (1979) - (29:00) A seminar conducted by Francois Truffaut at the American Film Institute from 1979.
* Truffaut on Truffaut: Truffaut and Philippe (1980) - (28:02) Claude-Jean Philippe interviews Francois Truffaut about "Jules and Jim" for his radio show series "La Cinema des cineastes".
* Raoul Coutard - (19:16) An interview with cinematographer Raoul Coutard (2003 in Paris) talking about his experience on "Jules and Jim".
* Jean Gruault - (20:48) Co-writer Jean Gruault talks about working with Truffaut. The complete interview from 1986 at the Cinematheque Francaise in Paris that was originally intended for Rainer Gansera's documentary "Working with Truffaut".
* Robert Stam and Dudley Andrew - (23:24) NYU professor of cinema studies Robert Stam and Yale professor of comparative literature and film studies Dudley Andrew have a conversation in regards to Truffaut and "Jules and Jim" recorded in 2004.
* Stills Gallery - Using your remote, you can view rare documents, screenplay notes, script pages and Truffau's personal correspondence for "Jules and Jim".
* 44-Page Booklet - Featuring the essays "On Jules and Jim" by John Powers, "Another Side of Truffaut: Writings Through the Years" - "On the Naked Dawn", "You Are All Witnesses in This Trial - French Cinema is Withering Under the Burden of False Legends", "Henri-Pierre Roche Revisted" and an essay by Pauline Kael "Jules and Jim".
JUDGMENT CALL:
"Jules and Jim: is perhaps Francois Truffaut's most beautiful film ever made. The film showcases its fun and vibrant nature on the opening credits but don't be fooled, this is not a film that is about three people having an open relationship, this is a film about friendship and relationships over the years and the finality of ones love when one really loves someone but knowing that they can't be with that person. What else can you do?
For the most part, "Jules and Jim" is definitely the antithesis of Eric Rohmer's "Six Moral Tales". In fact, "Jules and Jim" was criticized for its amorality by the Legion of Decency. But I am not surprised. You have three people with a woman having a relationship with both men. Adultery is a theme and conservatives can only be sickened by Catherine's free-spirited ways and wonder about her daughter Sabine. While others can see this film and not focus much about the amorality but three people who care for each other but are torn by the way of life that they are used to. The film was not made to showcase amorality, the film was to showcase Henri-Pierre Roche's life with his best friend and a woman that he cared about. It is a love story but in Truffaut's film, it's a tragic love story.
Jules is a man who loves Catherine but has not been the man to please her through marriage. Very well reserved, she is his life but is not the man to tame her wildest desire. That is where Jim comes in. Catherine and Jim are sexually connected but unlike Jules, can not have a family with her. Thus a conundrum as she loves both men for different reasons and these men happen to be great friends with each other.
Aside from the story's conundrums, one can't help but enjoy the setting of when this film takes place. Although shot in the '60s, this is France during the teens. Featuring an artistic style with three intriguing characters, "Jules and Jim" shows us a different side of Francois Truffaut, outside of Antoine Doinel but showcasing a woman that embodies nouvelle vague. If Godard's muse Anna Karina showed that free-spirited style in "Pierrot le fou", Jeanne Moreau shows another free-spirited style through Catherine who has lived on through the decades with people still entranced by the song "Le Tourbillon".
As for the DVD, "Jules and Jim" is a special-features packed release from The Criterion Collection. For anyone who has loved the film, this release features interviews, audio commentary, scholar essays and also a look at the true story that inspired this film adaptation. For the most part, this is a complete set for those who are passionate or curious about "Jules and Jim".
Overall, a magnificent release from the Criterion Collection which I hope they one day consider for a Blu-ray release in the near future. It's a film that can definitely be appreciated by the new generation of movie fans who have discovered French nouvelle vague but most importantly, wanting to watch another fantastic Francois Truffaut film.
Highly recommended!
Catherine doesnt escape suffering., 2009-09-14
Head docs in training should see this movie. She seems to be a violent gun toting manic depressive with a touch of sadism. She cant help herself from risking it all every 3 months and this was before the meds were available. Throughout the movie I think Jules is the hero for keeping their daughter safe. The director Truffaut though used riveting dialogue, great directing and character monologues. Did the alienation produced by the conflicts in her parents cultures Anglo/French before such marriages were common, cause this poor creature to run from inimacy so. She refers to maternal love as a magnet. This tells me she is a psycho. One doesnt know if she knew the bridge was damaged or not before crossing it to die. There were loose females who really run from men to men needing a new adventure and sex for sex's sake all around her. I think Catherine used the same 3 men in her life as self medication because with these hapless men she could
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 9780780027688
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
ISBN: 078002768X
Label: Criterion Collection, The
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection, The
Number Of Discs: 2
Publisher: Criterion Collection, The
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2005-05-31
Running Time: 105
Studio: Criterion Collection, The
Theatrical Release Date: 1962 |
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