Jules and Jim (1962)
"Jules et Jim" (original title)

Decades of a love triangle concerning two friends and an impulsive woman.

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

Henri-Pierre Roché (novel), François Truffaut (adaptation),

Stars:

Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre

Nominated for 2 BAFTA Film Awards. Another 3 wins.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jeanne Moreau	...	Catherine
Oskar Werner	...	Jules (as Oscar Werner)
Henri Serre	...	Jim
Vanna Urbino	...	Gilberte
Serge Rezvani	...	Albert (as Bassiak)
Anny Nelsen	...	Lucie
Sabine Haudepin	...	Sabine, la petite
Marie Dubois	...	Thérèse
Michel Subor	...	Récitant / Narrator (voice)

Storyline

In Paris, before WWI, two friends, Jules (Austrian) and Jim (French) fall in love with the same woman, Catherine. But Catherine loves and marries Jules. After the war, when they meet again in Germany, Catherine starts to love Jim... This is the story of three people in love, a love which does not affect their friendship, and about how their relationship evolves with the years.

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Plot Keywords:

love | friendship | germany | love triangle | german | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French German English

Release Date:

23 January 1962 (France)

Also Known As:

Jules and Jim

Filming Locations:

Alpes-Maritimes, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£25,589 (UK) (30 May 2008)

Gross:

£25,589 (UK) (30 May 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Les Films du Carrosse, Sédif Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Henri-Pierre Roché's original novel was based on his own experiences as a young man. The original Catherine was still alive when the film was released and even attended the premiere incognito.

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Goofs

When Jim recites La Marseillaise, the sound doesn't quite match up to the way that his lips are moving.

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Quotes

Jules: But not this one, Jim. Okay?

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Connections

Referenced in A Woman Is a Woman (1961)

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Soundtracks

"Le Tourbillon"
Written by Serge Rezvani (as 'Boris Bassiak' or Cyrus Bassiak)
Performed by Jeanne Moreau with Serge Rezvani on guitar

User Reviews

A breathless film about time.

Time and revisionist critics have tried to tarnish the gleam of Truffaut's final masterpiece - citing its apparent misogyny and apoliticism; but for some of us, 'Jules et Jim' is the unforgettable film that opened the gates to both European film, and the great masters of American cinema like Hitchcock, Hawks and Ray.

'Jules et Jim' is, along with 'Citizen Kane', THE vindication of the pleasures of cinematic form: the first half especially, in its rush of narrative registers and technical exuberance, is unparalleled in modern film. This isn't mere trickery - the use of paintings, books, plays, dreams, conversations, documentary footage, etc., as well as the different ways of telling a story through film, all point to the movie's theme - how do you represent people and the world in art without destroying them? Or is art the only to save people and life from extinction?

The foregrounding of theatricality, acting, disguises, pseudonyms, games, works-within-the-work, all point to the high modernism in which the film is set, when the old certainties about identity and place were being destroyed by the Great War. In fact the film could be considered Cubist in the way it uses film form to splice up and rearrange images, space, characters, viewpoints.

Truffaut's film is a beautiful elegy about time: the historical time heading towards destruction in the shape of the Nazis, and the circular time of love, obsession and art. These times struggle in the film's structure, history zipping past years in the framing, Parisian sections, and days stretching out interminably in the central rural rondelay.

Far from being misogynistic, the film places Catherine's speech about 'grains of sand' at its philosophical heart. AND she's played by Jeanne Moreau, the most honest and human of all great actresses.