JULES AND JIM is another film that could have benefited from some judicious cutting. It tells the trifling tale of two men who are inseparable friends (OSKAR WERNER and HENRI SERRE), both in love with the same free spirited woman (JEANNE MOREAU) who seems anxious to not only defy convention but all the laws of truth, fidelity and morality in her search for happiness. She can't make up her mind from moment to moment whether she's in or out of love with either man and goes to extremes to show her displeasure with both of them. There's obviously something pathological about her nature, but neither man seems to care about that.
The ending comes somewhat as a shock--but is telegraphed early on when she first plunges into the water without a word of explanation for her rash act. We are then expected to sympathize with her plight for the rest of the film, since the two men obviously are head over heels in love with this puzzling creature whom they fell in love with because she resembled the statue of a woman with a quiet smile. As played by JEANNE MOREAU, she is the personification of a flighty woman who cannot and will not make up her mind about anything as important as loyalty and marriage or any kind of stability in her life. Sullen at times, cheerful and playful at others, Moreau plays her role to the hilt.
If this menage-a-trois from French filmmaker Francois Truffaut is your cup of tea and you are an admirer of the French New Wave style of cinema, this is likely to be one of your favorite films. Others may find it too leisurely in the telling told in a style that is disjointed, to say the least.
The last line of the film spoken by OSKAR WERNER says something about her ashes not being scattered over the countryside because this was against the French authorities. A fitting description of the woman herself who defied every authority in her own quest to find life worth living. Some call the film a masterpiece--I'm inclined to think it is much less than that.
The ending comes somewhat as a shock--but is telegraphed early on when she first plunges into the water without a word of explanation for her rash act. We are then expected to sympathize with her plight for the rest of the film, since the two men obviously are head over heels in love with this puzzling creature whom they fell in love with because she resembled the statue of a woman with a quiet smile. As played by JEANNE MOREAU, she is the personification of a flighty woman who cannot and will not make up her mind about anything as important as loyalty and marriage or any kind of stability in her life. Sullen at times, cheerful and playful at others, Moreau plays her role to the hilt.
If this menage-a-trois from French filmmaker Francois Truffaut is your cup of tea and you are an admirer of the French New Wave style of cinema, this is likely to be one of your favorite films. Others may find it too leisurely in the telling told in a style that is disjointed, to say the least.
The last line of the film spoken by OSKAR WERNER says something about her ashes not being scattered over the countryside because this was against the French authorities. A fitting description of the woman herself who defied every authority in her own quest to find life worth living. Some call the film a masterpiece--I'm inclined to think it is much less than that.