Review of Jules and Jim (1962) by Brandon S — 30 Jan 2017

Review In A Nutshell:

Jules and Jim is about two close friends who meets a girl, Catherine, which then develops into a love triangle that ultimately affects both of these men's lives.

The film explores ideas of loyalty, friendship, and love in a way that would normally come off as interesting and entertaining, especially for someone like me who has a weakness for digestible and clichà (C) themes. Sadly the film falls short in making these aspects interesting due to the film's central characters. I have not read the novel, and this film would mark as my first in exploring Francois Truffaut's filmography, so I had no expectations coming into this. Truffaut handles the film's characters and story in a quirky and offbeat kind of way, where the events and emotions that films like these would normally walk on would be manipulated in order to have them look and feel stripped down. I see what Truffaut is trying to do with it, as he wants the film to feel more natural, with emotions not always being expressed in a clear and heavy way paralleling to the true nature of humanity, but he has forgotten to give the film a handle for audiences to easily hold, therefore leaving me feeling detached with the characters and the story almost throughout the film's running time. I have to search so much into each scene that by the time I get to its emotional core, I end up feeling exhausted and the drive to figure out what the film is truly trying to deliver starts to fade away from me.

In terms of the film's plot and narrative, I found it to be interesting as the struggle between each member of the trio of keeping the one they truly care about from leaving and it wasn't hard to follow the intentions of each character. My main issue with the narrative is the pacing and it's delivery of its emotions, which is something I have already discussed. The film flies by the first act of the film, with the introduction of its two male leads and the relationship the characters have. The film doesn't slow down to give us any room to breathe and take it all in, therefore I gave up trying to keep up with it and hopefully as the film goes on, I'll gain a better insight on the characters, which in a way did. The second and third act does eventually slow down the film's pace, but not by a lot. Truffaut gives us a bit more time to take in the characters' motives and persona but I still personally felt that the tempo was still too elevated for me to really feel comprehensively invested, as there was just so much that Truffaut wanted to flesh out but didn't want to lose that sense of urgency and offbeat quality. At first I felt that the film's climax happened too suddenly and lacked any sense of impact, it started to grow on me a little bit as I'm writing this and developing some sort of empathy towards the decisions both of the characters would make; I think it would be something that would come off much better during a second viewing.

With all of the film's issues, it would be normal for one to find the dialogue in this film to be lacklustre, but surprisingly, it's actually one of the film's best qualities. This is not to say that it's perfect but it is a clear notch up when compared to other aspects of the film. The dialogue really made the characters feel interesting to watch, as they ramble on things that definitely resemble the personality and interests of Truffaut and his colleagues. The topics being discussed throughout the film are of the "higher" class, going in depth in things like wine, plays, and psychology. Even after the war that the male characters has went through, the way they discuss it upon reflection is more along the lines of a third-person rather than first; discussing how it impacted others rather than how it was for themselves, almost as if they didn't participate in it. Though, I did find the film's dialogue at times to be a tad bit too indulgent. Characters at times tend to ramble on a tad longer than they should and therefore coming off as a bit tedious in particular moments. The dialogue also lacked a bit off emotion, which was definitely needed on defining moments in the film. The film also includes a voice-over which was used in a way that was smarter than the characters themselves. It acts as a support for the audience to make up for the emotional core and insight that the film lacks, which did its job wonderfully but I personally found unnecessary. The film would have been much more effective if the characters were a bit more clear in themselves and let out a sliver, just a sliver, of elevated drama to give the film a bit weight.

The film's black and white photography looked quite good though I felt could have been much better in making scenes feel more impacting. Throughout the film we see wonderful tracking shots and pans that do occasionally create that parallel to the film's themes and ideas, but it wasn't enough to carry the film. The film's score on the other hand was a much more satisfying aspect. It was able to heighten that offbeat and quirky style that the director was going for. It also wonderfully captures the mood of the scene perfectly, with at times keeping me highly engaged due to the score alone.

The film's acting was actually great for what it was. If the actors weren't so restricted by Truffaut's direction and script then the actors would have definitely gotten more praise from me as their characters would have felt more fleshed out and genuine in a cinematic way. All of the three main actors, Henri Sarre; Oskar Werner; and Jeanne Moreau, were great in their roles. All were able to give that energy that Truffaut demanded from them while also sneaking in a hint of internal vulnerability in their characters. Each actor was able to deliver their dialogue really well and they were able to make use of the space that was given to them, exhibiting great physical performances.

I can definitely understand the praise that this film has received as I do see the qualities that make it a unique and great film, but it just didn't hit home for me at an emotional level, coming off as over-directed rather than the genuineness that it was clearly trying to evoke.