Jules Et Jim on DVD (1961)

Dated but charming.....

Andrew from Scotland , 26/05/2004

This is another of those influential films you must see if you wish to keep your 'arthouse cred'. I watched the film having heard a lot about it but not really knowing anything about it at the same time. You are very aware while watching of just how influential this film has been, but what was avant guarde and daring when it was made now seems dated but very charming. Still at least I'm cool with the arthouse crowd.

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An enduring classic

Scribbler from East Sussex , 22/04/2004

As a disc, this DVD is excellent quality, with a beautiful transfer of the B&W original, as well as several interesting extras. There are two contemporary interviews with Truffaut, another with Jeanne Moreau, and an “Introduction” to the film. This tells the story of how Truffaut discovered Roché’s original novel and eventually came to film it.

The film itself is an enduring classic, with many of the hallmarks of early French Nouvelle Vague: jump cuts, near-subliminal freeze-frames, a bookish voice-over narration. Several of the scenes in the film have become iconic: the race across the railway bridge, Jeanne Moreau’s face as she breaks into a radiant smile, the car driving in a suicidal manner across the incomplete bridge, etc.

The film is told at a surprisingly breakneck speed, with the story moving briskly along. Although there is a distinctively Truffaut-esque lightness of tone, the film is remarkably dark. Because of its fast pace, Jules et Jim requires some concentration, but in return it is entertaining throughout.

It stands alone as a great movie, but from the hindsight of forty years on, we can also see its seminal qualities, the way a whole generation of film-makers were influenced by it; you can spot intriguing similarities with Richard Lester’s A Hard Day’s Night, shot a couple of years later.

Has it dated? Not significantly. It’s set in period (early 20th century), but the direction, the acting and Raoul Coutard’s fabulous monochrome photography impart a genuinely timeless quality.

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pretentious and unengaging

Pat McCarthy from Surrey, England , 05/03/2006

I have been meaning to watch this classic 60s film for a long time. What a huge disappointment! I hadn't been forewarned about the style of the film - action set at turn of the century, voiceover by narrator while Chaplinesque figures act out the events. About as engaging as Mr Benn but less interesting. It may have improved after the first 10 mins but I wasn't able to persevere. Perhaps I'm just incapable of appreciating great art.

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Very dated

skeadugenga from Reading [Highly rated reviewer] , 31/01/2005

As a curiosity and for its cultural influence, you should probably watch Jules et Jim once, but don't expect to enjoy it. I expect that Catherine was daringly liberated in the context of 1911 and probably still appeared so in 1961, but now she just looks like an annoying woman who can't make up her mind, and when she does always wants the thing she can't have. Why these two poor saps and others find her so irresistibly fascinating escapes me, just one evening in her company was too much. The beginning of the film, showing the start of the two men's friendship was enjoyable, the film takes a sharp downhill turn with Catherine's arrival. The predictable ending is crude and unsatisfactory. Watching this was educational, but not pleasurable.

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Roland#4 from HAYLING ISLAND , 21/05/2004

The style of Jules et Jim perfectly mirrors the personality of Catherine, the woman who captures the hearts of both of the men. Unfortunately, Catherine is unstable, unreliable and basically unpleasant. The dialogue has a very unnatural feel to it and the seemingly ever present voice over, which is largely lifted directly form the novel on which the film is based, leaves little or no room for personal interpretation or interaction with the characters.

The breathless pace and editing of the movie is, at first, refreshing, but soon becomes tiresome as you wish you could be allowed some time to respond emotionally to the story.

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Very dated

skeadugenga from Reading [Highly rated reviewer] , 31/01/2005

As a curiosity and for its cultural influence, you should probably watch Jules et Jim once, but don't expect to enjoy it. I expect that Catherine was daringly liberated in the context of 1911 and probably still appeared so in 1961, but now she just looks like an annoying woman who can't make up her mind, and when she does always wants the thing she can't have. Why these two poor saps and others find her so irresistibly fascinating escapes me, just one evening in her company was too much. The beginning of the film, showing the start of the two men's friendship was enjoyable, the film takes a sharp downhill turn with Catherine's arrival. The predictable ending is crude and unsatisfactory. Watching this was educational, but not pleasurable.

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