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Features: DVD, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, Mono Audio, Black & White
Hailed as one of the finest films ever made, legendary director Francois Truffaut's early masterpiece Jules and Jim charts the relationship between two friends and the object of their mutual obsession over the course of twenty-five years. French film icon Jeanne Moreau stars as Catherine, the alluring and willful young woman whose enigmatic smile and passionate nature lure Jules (Oskar Werner) and Jim (Henri Serre) into one of cinema's most captivating romantic triangles. An exuberant and poignant meditation on freedom, loyalty, and the fortitude of love, Jules and Jim was a worldwide smash upon its release in 1962 and remains as audacious and entrancing today.
"A masterpiece..." Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader
"One of the most beautifully lyrical works in the history of the French Cinema." Find-A-Video
"An undeniable masterpiece." James Monaco, The New Wave
"...A film of rare beauty and charm." Leonard Maltin's Movie & Vieo Guide
Editor's Note
JULES AND JIM is François Truffaut's intense, beautiful, enigmatic film about the lifelong friendship between two writers--French novelist Jim (Henri Serre) and Austrian children's author Jules (Oskar Werner)--and their mutual love for the eccentric Catherine (Jeanne Moreau). With artful black-and-white imagery, the story begins in 1920s Paris when Jules and Jim first meet and become friends. As young single men, they gallavant about Paris, chasing women or studying ancient art, always animated, curious, and charming. When they meet the equally energetic Catherine, whose impulses range from dressing up as a man to taking midnight plunges into the Seine, their circle is complete. But when World War II erupts, with Jules and Jim fighting on opposite sides, everything changes. Jules marries Catherine before going off to battle. After the war, they settle into a quiet existence in the French countryside. But Catherine is restless and unfaithful. Jim reunites with his oldest and closest friends, and Catherine makes room for him in their house, asking him to move in and become her lover. Jim complies, as he wants nothing more than to please his friend Jules, who agrees to the plan. From there, the film's sweeping photography and wonderfully philosophical scripting tightens as the tale becomes even more complicated. Even its darkest moments, JULES AND JIM is movingly alluring as the friendship between the two men paints a meaningful portrait of human understanding and compassion. Like the similarly themed TWO ENGLISH GIRLS, Truffaut's film is based on a novel by Henri-Pierre Roché.
Plot Summary
Director François Truffaut's JULES AND JIM features two men in love with a capricious, implusive woman. An atmospheric and energetic meditation on the nature of love and monogamy, the tale is breathtakingly told in classic New Wave cinema language.
| Features | Audio Commentary | | Audio: English Dolby Digital Stereo | | Awards Listing | | Filmographies | | Interactive Menus | | Jeanne Moreau Tribute | | Production Credits | | Scene Access | | Subtitles: English | | Truffaut Trailer Collection | | Segment from the French program L’Invité du Dimanche (1969), featuring Truffaut and Moreau | | Truffaut on novelist Henri-Pierre Roché, from the French program Bibliothèque de poche (1966) | | Archival audio interview with Truffaut | | Exclusive video interview with co-writer Gruault | | New video conversation between scholars Robert Stam and Dudley Andrew | | Excerpts from an episode of the French television program Cinéastes de notre temps dedicated to François Truffaut | | 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 Bouché, and Truffaut scholar Annette Insdorf; the other featuring legendary actress Jeanne Moreau and Truffaut biographer Serge Toubiana | | New video interview with director of photography Coutard |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Home Vision/Public Media |
| Release Date: 5/31/2005 |
| Running Time: 104 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1962 | | Catalog ID: 080 | | UPC: 00037429184226 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: French | | Available Audio Tracks: French | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: B&W |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Sight and Sound
"...Truffaut's masterpiece remains one of the most exhilarating of the New Wave movies..." 11/01/2002 p.64New York Times
5 stars out of 5 -- "Truffaut's filmmaking still feels fresh, and as the film moves inexorably to a tragic conclusion, his sprightly handling doesn't dilute the heartrending drama. Still a masterpiece." 06/01/2008 p.55 The Movie Guide 10 of 10
Francois Truffaut's greatest achievement...a celebration both of love and cinema. Moreau [gives] one
Movie Reviews UK 10 of 10
A quite astonishing film, Truffaut has conceived a fragment of cinema which is wonderfully alluring - Damian Cannon
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