Jules and Jim (1962)

 Francois Truffaut's "Jules and Jim"

I have watched Francois Truffuat's lauded 1962 French New Wave film "Jules and Jim" twice now and both times has confounded me. I feel as confounded by the film itself as I do about its lead female protagonist, Catherine, played brilliantly by French icon Jeanne Moreau. This sentiment I feel with the film seems to validated by many interpretations of the film. Let me point out that the plotline of the film is not what is confusing or confounded, not at all. Rather, the complexity of human emotion, the reason and logic of behavior, and the artistic narrative of the picture is what causes such astounding feelings of uncertainty and mysterious intrigue. 

The film revolves around two male friends, Jules and Jim, from 1912 to the early 1930s. In the onset of the film, the two spend all of their time in joyous adventure as they navigate early adulthood and all its freedoms. The pair then meet Catherine, whom both love. Catherine goes to Germany with Jules to be married and quickly afterwards, war breaks out. After the war, Catherine and Jules now have a daughter and when Jim comes to visit, it is apparent that Catherine is unhappy. She begins an affair with Jim, on top of the affair she is already having with a man named Albert. The three continue in their love triangle until eventually Catherine drives both her and Jim off a bridge. 

I noticed that the beginning/first half of the film is filled with a sense of joyous wonder and play. The three characters enjoy absolute liberty in being their most playful selves. They ride bikes, race, sport, laugh, draw mustaches on Catherine, etc. Specifically, Catherine herself seems to exemplify a sense of individual liberty. She acts on her impulsive whims. In the beginning of the film, this is rather charming to both men. They both feel as though this sense of personal freedom is something they want to possess. 

Truffaut films these scenes with a mimicked sense of playfulness. His camera is completely unrestricted in its placement, movement, and focus. The editing mimics this as well, as scenes are arranged in such a freeform, experimental way. Many filmmakers take note of this free style of filmmaking and its youthful, rapid pace. Martin Scorsese was influenced by this style when making his 1990 film "Goodfellas," and impressed upon it with a similar voiceover, extensive narration, quick cuts, and freeze frames as Truffaut does with "Jules and Jim." There is an inherent restless spirit about the first half of the film.

Whereas the second half of the film, which takes place after World War I, carries over the same sense of restlessness while somehow demonstrating a more tense and frustrating sentiment. The two boys seem to have honed their ability to take liberties with themselves. Jules simply wants to be a stay-at-home family man, while also doing whatever it takes to keep Catherine around. Jim comes across as very willful and perhaps even controlling. He feels destitute after the war and feels jealous of Jules' stability. However, Catherine still acts on every impulse she has. Many have noted that perhaps this makes Catherine the most 'free individual' of the group. However, this restless spirit that felt joyous in the first half now feels more exasperated. The sense of impulse feels more reactionary rather than spontaneous. It feels like a reaction to the stagnation of both adulthood, motherhood, and post-war trauma. It feels more like trying to scratch an itch that can't be scratched. 

Catherine's impulse-driven behavior, along with the merry-go-round of romantic partners that unfold create a sense of complex uncertainty with life itself. Catherine is married to Jules, but cheats of Jules with Albert. Wanting to keep Catherine around him, Jules implores Jim to keep her as a partner. Once Jim and Catherine become sexual partners, Catherine goes back to Jules. Once Jim leaves to be with his former fiancé Gilberte, Catherine begins sleeping with Albert once again to entice Jules' persistence to Jim. Once Jim returns to Catherine, she becomes bored again and so on it goes. This creates an emotional instability. The complexity of love, desire, friendship, companionship, marriage, adultery, freedom, boundaries,  and all other mechanism of human connection and relationships are explored and most importantly, looked at through a lens of mystery. Truffaut does not examine in a way that reveals truth. Rather, he examines in a way that creates more confusion and lack of understanding. This is what I mean about the film confounding me. In the end, we reach no resolution. All of the actions of the characters lack reason and purpose. In the beginning, this swept you off your feet. The mystery of human emotion beckoned you, charmed you, and created desire. By the end, clarity never comes. The inner workings of human emotion are never reasoned and now it leaves you unsatisfied. 

To me, the film itself becomes Catherine and in all her complexity and her refusal to be classified and understood. There is even a moment where Jim says that he understands Catherine, to which she responds that she does not wish to be understood. The film itself embodies this notion, as its complex and confounding nature create a sense of declassification. There are no straight lines of reason and emotion, rather a melting pot of abstractions, unreason, and unclarity. Because of this, the film itself is a rebellion against the standard of cinema and the ease with which cinema delivers on easy and simple answers. Relationships are complex, emotion is not pinned down or reasonable, and morality is unclassified. It was for this very reason that the French censors banned the film, as they felt it was 'immoral.' 

All in all, "Jules and Jim" is a whirlwind experience that Truffaut manages to tell with a sense of creative adventure. He uses so many different filmmaking techniques and arranges his images in so many unique ways. All of this to continue creating a sense of discovery within the realms of the uncertain. It is filmmaking at its most refreshing. "Jules and Jim" has since been regarded as one of the finest French New Wave films of its era as well as being considered one of the finest films ever constructed.