"Jules and Jim" - Film Review

Well, that was depressing. That opening, up beat score and the generally uplifting and fun first act of the film are incredibly deceptive. They soon fade away in favor of something far more contemplative and complicated. Not that I'm complaining; the first act of the film at times is somewhat self-indulgent, and the film becomes far more interesting to watch after Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) return from fighting in World War I.

At its heart Jules and Jim is about a love triangle, but it's often an antidote to the oft used trope. Katherine (Jeanne Moreau) isn't someone to be won; if anything she's poisonous. While making the female paramour a destructive entity is somewhat reductive, it at times seems meant to be a counterpoint to the frivolousness of so many love triangles. The film looks at the pairings from many different angles and shows why they're, yes, plausible, but also far too flawed in their own right to be stable. While there's also a fair amount of idealizing on the part of Jules and Jim, there's also a certain amount of stepping back and acknowledging that what attracts both of them to Katherine is how messy of an indvidual she is; she's a "real woman". But there's also enough manic-pixie-dream-girl envisionment that we should take this with a grain of salt, especially initially.

But as the film carries on, the story manages to the demonstrate why Katherine is no good for either of them, and why they're no good for her either. Katherine, if anything, has got some undiagnosed form of clinical depression going on that she's trying to consume with love affairs. When she becomes tied down by getting married and having a kid, it wrecks her.

A lesser film might put Jim and Katherine together and that be an easy solution to the complications. Jules and her had their time, but Jim was always meant to be the one. But they're equally ill-suited in their own way. Jim takes a backseat for a long time, too concerned about his friend, who was with Katherine first, and his feelings. But his own feelings linger, and he's unable to shake his desire to be with Katherine. Jules eventually realizes he can't please her and gives Jim a chance with her (mind you, while he's still married to her). Jim and Katherine plan to get married, but their inability to have a child dampens their whole affability towards the arrangement. Katherine thought if she had a child with Jim that her mind wouldn't stray towards looking towards other men.

So the film progresses towards a point where no one is happy (and, well, eventually two-thirds of this geometric, ill-fated romance are dead). The only time there's a glimpse of this is when the three come to an odd arrangement where they're living together, acting as a pseudo-family unit with Jim and Katherine together and Jules as a hanger on looking after their child Sabine.

Jim gets out and rekindles things with a former lover. He's prepared to get married to her, while Jules continues to get dragged down by Katherine. The only sense of relief from all this only comes when Katherine drives a car into a river with Jim unfortunately in the passenger seat. Jules gets freed of the burden of Katherine but has also lost his best friend.

Jules and Jim's real greatness comes in showing the all-consuming nature of this love affair. The film allows the wear and tear of this entanglement to be deeply felt. We watch as two best friends are torn apart by a fascinating, passionate woman. It's all a bit familiar, but Truffaut keeps it chugging along with energy and enthusiasm.

Stray Thoughts:
-Georges Delerue's score is rightfully well-beloved and provides the films with its duel sense of whimsey and tragedy. I'm particularly partial to "Retrouvailles à l'auberge de le Bécasse"
-I understand the purpose of the WWI portion of the film, and it pays off beautifully down the road, but the actual sequence itself just didn't work for me. 
-The scene where they run on the bridge has since become iconic and I think deservedly so. It's an excellent tracking shot and it represents a lot of the film's sensibilities. 
-The best stretch of the film is the time spent at the countryside house in Germany. The film starts opening wounds and playing out some emotional moments that are really sincerely put across. It's also got a number of very fun moments, particularly those involving the young daughter Sabine. 
-The film might be called Jules and Jim, but it's Katherine who steals the show. Jeanne Moreau makes Katherine at once impossible and yet completely recognizable. She's contradictory and enigmatic, and she draws both men into her web.
-I defer to the late, great Roger Ebert to sum up the style and sensibility of the film: "There is joy in the filmmaking that feels fresh today and felt audacious at the time... the energy pulsing from the screen"

Consensus: A lovely example of the French New Wave, and a great, tragic, poignant tale of love and loss.

Grade: A-