Jules and Jim

Love is an heavenly bitch. Perhaps the only soap opera in the history of cinema that can be celebrated as the creation of an intellectual and stylistic artist, and one of the few films that, despite its lyricism, presents the broader nature of love and friendship in a believable way, at once cheerful (the first half marked by relentless editing and ephemeral love escapades) and mysteriously tragic (the slow pace of the second half, the longer dialogues and the growing presence of an emotion that cannot be reciprocated). The female lead irritated me a lot, and the narrator's voiceover was perhaps unnecessarily revealing even when the actors, and Truffaut and Coutard would have been enough, but I still curiously waited for every next twist and looked forward to the finale, which did not disappoint and enclosed the entire relationship mosaic in an ingeniously poetic frame. And above all, even the seemingly stupid actions of the male protagonist can be understood – if you have a dream and ideal woman in your life, nothing will deter you, I am (unfortunately?) aware of that. 85% (03/02/2016)

A very well made film, the success of which rests mainly on the excellent performances of the actors (especially Jeanne Moreau) and the engaging theme of the love triangle. Is it even possible to love two men at the same time? And can two best friends love one woman? Although I found the film less appealing in places, the perfect ending made it all balance out right away. In short, a film that is mainly in the spirit of love and everything that goes with it. (29/03/2012)

The only significant complaint here is the use of the narrator. The fact that he reads whole swathes of the book presents no problem at all. But the fact that he is used to impart everything from story shifts, through motives to feelings is a big problem. Sometimes this means serious side-lining of the actors. And slowing down the breakneck pace in some parts and increasing the running time a little wouldn’t have mattered at all, because like this everything happens terribly quickly. But still, a good, melancholic picture with a touch of classic Greek tragedy. (30/01/2007)

No, the new wave just doesn't work for me, at least not in the French version. The storytelling methods are interesting, and I like how the media's possibilities are used, but for me, the story always comes first in a film, and here I don't feel like the story is really well presented. I might actually prefer the original book. (13/04/2015)