Jules et Jim [Criterion Collection] [2 Discs]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Acclaimed French director Francois Truffaut's third and, for many viewers, best film is an adaptation of a semi-autobiographical novel by Henri-Pierre Roche. Set between 1912 and 1933, it stars Oskar Werner as the German Jules and Henri Serre as the Frenchman Jim, kindred spirits who, while on holiday in Greece, fall in love with the smile on the face of a sculpture. Back in Paris, the smile comes to life in the person of Catherine (Jeanne Moreau); the three individuals become constant companions, determined to live their lives to the fullest despite the world war around them. When Jules declares his love for Catherine, Jim agrees to let Jules pursue her, despite his own similar feelings; Jules and Catherine marry and have a child (Sabine Haudepin), but Catherine still loves Jim as well. An influential film that has grown in stature over the decades, Jules et Jim was often viewed by the counterculture of the 1960s as a cinematic proponent of the free-love movement, but in actuality the picture is a statement against such a way of life. Despite the bond shared by Jules, Jim, and Catherine, their menage a trois is doomed to fail; and Catherine's inability to choose between the two men leads to tragic consequences for all three. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 2
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 (Cinemascope)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Mono
• Features:
  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Raoul Coutard
  • Two audio commentaries: One featuring co-writer Jean Gruault, Truffaut collaborator Suzanne Schiffman, editor Claudine Bouche, and film scholar Annette Insdorf; the other featuring legendary actress Jeanne Moreau and Truffaut biographer Serge Toubiana
  • Excerpts from The Key to Jules and Jim (1985), a documentary on author Henri-Pierre Roche and the true stories on which the novel and film are based
  • Truffaut on Roche, from the French program Bibliotheque de Poche (1966)
  • Theatrical trailer
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • New video interview with Coutard
  • Video interview with Gruault
  • New video conversation between scholars Robert Stam and Dudley Andrew
  • Excerpt from a 1965 episode of the French television program Cineastes de Notre Temps dedicated to Francois Truffaut
  • Segment from the French program L'Invite du Dimanche (1969), featuring Truffaut, Moreau, and Jean Renoir
  • Excerpts from Truffaut's first appearance on American television, a 1977 interview with New York Film Festival director Richard Roud
  • Excerpts from a 1979 American Film Institute Dialogue on Film given by Truffaut
  • Archival audio interview of Truffaut by Claude-Jean Philippe (1980)
  • 44-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic John Powers, reprints of Truffaut's writings, and a Pauline Kael review

AWARDS

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Nominated Best Film - Any Source - 1962 (François Truffaut)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Jeanne Moreau - Catherine
       Oskar Werner - Jules
       Henri Serre - Jim
       Marie Dubois - Therese
       Vanna Urbino - Gilberte
       Boris Bassiak - Albert
       Sabine Haudepin - Sabine
       Anny Nielsen - Lucy

• Director:

  François Truffaut

• Producer:

  Marcel Berbert

• Screenwriter:

  Jean Gruault, François Truffaut

• Book Author:

  Henri-Pierre Roché

• Cinematographer:

  Raoul Coutard

• Songwriter:

  Boris Bassiak

• Composer (Music Score):

  Georges Delerue

• Editor:

  Claudine Bouché

• Production Designer:

  Fred Capel

• Costume Designer:

  Fred Capel

REVIEW:

• His third and most popular film, Francois Truffaut's adaptation of the Henri-Pierre Roche novel is a lyrical, elliptical meditation on the possibilities of love. Shot in widescreen black-and-white by Raoul Coutard in beautifully detailed pre- and post-World War I settings, the central menage a trois of Jules, Jim, and mercurial Catherine reveals the limits placed on a woman's freedom by the men's desire to mold her to their fantasy ideal. Catherine remains an enigma to Jules and Jim, though they adore her, as they tragically misjudge how absolute her refusal to choose between them will be. Truffaut's eclectic technique (bolstered by Georges Delerue's score) evoked the shifting emotions in this ultra-modern romance, ranging from kinetic handheld shots communicating the trio's joie de vivre to freeze-frames briefly suspending Catherine's beauty in time. An international smash and instant classic, Jules and Jim cemented Truffaut's reputation as a cinematic artist, rather than just a brash critic. Despite Jules and Jim's tragic end, audiences embraced the possibility of alternative romantic arrangements, while Truffaut's bravura, resonant style inspired even Truffaut's idol Jean Renoir to say that he wished he had made the film. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi