In his first feature film, The 400 Blows, Francois Truffaut exhibited the heartfelt and personal style that would become his trademark. Truffaut liked to make movies that were intensely personal; however, in his third feature film, he looked outside of his own life and decided to adapt Henri-Pierre Roche’s semiautobiographical novel, Jules and Jim. While Jules and Jim is obviously personal to Roche, it is also a uniquely personal reflection of Truffaut. Truffaut’s use of camera, editing, music, and narration combine to make an extraordinarily emotional and personal film that’s part traditional and part New Wave.
Jules and Jim spans roughly thirty years of friendship, a daunting task for any film to cover; yet Truffaut manages to structure the film well. The film is a series of extended scenes and brief montages fastened together through omniscient narration. The narration clues viewers in to key moments in the film (such as Jules and Jim seeing the statue for the first time) and enlightens viewers as to emotional states that would have otherwise been impossible to convey (such as Jim falling in love with Catherine after she jumps into the river or Jules’ feeling of relief at the end of the movie). The brief montages and occasional photographs are ways to further envelope the viewer in the time and place of the film (e.g. the photographs of Jules’ old loves, the film footage of early twentieth century Paris, the World War I footage and photographs). Structuring the film in such a manner allows Truffaut to only show the scenes necessary for the presentation of the two themes of the film, a fall from innocence and the necessity and impossibility of a new cultural logic.
Jules and Jim is divided into two halves, with World War I being the line between the two. In order to obtain a sense of unity, certain elements are present throughout the film (e.g. dominoes, boxing, Therese), but the division is nevertheless evident. The first half of the film is about the innocent and youthful days of Jules, Jim, and Catherine. To express the lively energy of the trio’s pre-war days, Truffaut employs a number of the New Wave techniques he utilized in The 400 Blows. These techniques enable the first half of the film to take on a documentary feel. Scenes such as the famous footrace across the bridge, with its handheld camera work, lack of music, and long takes, enable the film to appropriate a spontaneous, almost, realistic feel. Truffaut uses irises in (e.g. on Catherine and Jules when they dine together after first meeting each other), zooms (e.g. Jules and Jim showering at the gym), freeze frames (e.g. Catherine showing her ability to brood and laugh to Jules and Jim), circular pans (e.g. Therese smoking like a steam engine), and quick cuts to a greater degree in the first half of the film than in the second, where they almost entirely disappear. When Jules and Jim see the statue on the island, Truffaut uses zooms, pans, and quick cuts to photograph the statue in a distinctive style that he later recalls when Catherine is shown for the first time. Truffaut uses camera work, combined with editing, to link the statue and Catherine. In addition to creating a fast pace and playful feel, these non-traditional, new wave techniques reflect the longing exhibited in the characters for a new set of (cultural) laws.
In addition to the lively camera work, Truffaut uses the music to reflect the youthful energy of the trio in the first half of the film. In the scenes that are accompanied by a score, the music is intensely energetic and the camera work is almost equally so. For instance, the score that plays over the quickly paced opening montage (of Jules and Jim playfully opening doors for each other, piggybacking, fencing with brooms, etc) is frenetic and full of life, just like the characters. The music serves as a cue to the audience to tell them how the trio feels. Like the camera work, the music is a reflection of the emotional state of the three friends.
In contrast, the second half of the film, which focuses on the trio’s difficult post-war days, is paced more slowly. The quick cuts, frantic music, and documentary feel are practically nonexistent. For instance, while Truffaut chooses to photograph the statue and Catherine in a hurried, exhilarated fashion in the first half of the film, he, instead, chooses to photograph Jim, in a similar scene, slowly tracing his fingers down Catherine’s silhouetted profile in the second half of the film. Whereas at the beginning of the film, Truffaut is breaking a lot of cinematic rules, the second half of the film sees Truffaut taking risks to a lesser degree. Truffaut mirrors the characters’ decision that, “new laws are beautiful, but it’s more practical to obey old ones,†with his camera work, choosing instead to largely follow the firmly established cinematic rules. The slower pace of the second half also mirrors the maturation of the trio as they choose to settle down. Whereas at the beginning of the film, the three seem to always be on the move, the second half of the film largely takes place in the cottage by the Rhine that Jules and Catherine have moved into.
The close, documentary feel of the first half has been replaced with impressive aerial shots and crane shots (e.g. the two-floor spanning take of Catherine flirting with Jules). Extreme long shots of the three playing by lakes or in fields, as well as scenes containing dense fog, become common in the second half. These types of shots conceptualize the growing emotional distance felt between the three characters as Jules and Jim’s relationship with Catherine puts more and more stress upon them. Corresponding with this more subdued cinematography is a more mature soundtrack. The frantic melodies of the first half of the film have been replaced by more restrained pieces in the second, reflecting the settled maturation of the three.
The first half of the film shows, in almost documentary fashion, the free nature of the trio’s past. They could take up and leave on a whim, they went to plays and cafes at night and played (e.g. boxing, running) during the day; their concerns were minimal. They flew by the seat of their pants and the editing, pacing, and cinematography of the first half really exhibits that. However, when the World went to war, the idealist Jules and Jim are forced to deal with the reality of their condition. Only after baring witness to the way the world really works does the pair eventually discover they are unable to come home and pick up the pieces of their naïve past. They tried to forge a new cultural logic, only to decide that old laws are “more practical.†Although a monogamous relationship may not be ideal, it is the only real workable option. Jules says of Catherine, “I am slowly renouncing her and all I had expected from the world,†reflecting his fall from naïve innocence. Jim says to Catherine, “We played with life and lost… I tried to spread joy, but have only created pain,†exhibiting the impossibility of creating a new cultural logic. As the pair matures and begins to “renounce all [they] had expected from the world,†the cinematography, music, and editing reflect such a maturation and become more subdued. What is so unique about the film is that Truffaut chooses not only to tell the story through omniscient narration and dialogue, but also through images and the way in which those images are assembled. The camera work, editing, music, and narration combine to make Jules and Jim an undeniable masterpiece of the French New Wave.
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