Movies 2008 #15 Jules and Jim

Jules and Jim

François Truffaut’s classic Jules and Jim is one of the greatest expressions of cinema I’ve seen in the past couple of years.

That’s really all I have to say. I kept trying to write a proper, long-form review and just couldn’t get my head around the film in a formal way. So informal is the way to go.

I guess I should explain a little. One sentence and then a two sentence apology for the one sentence doesn’t cut it as a review. Of course, when I wrote about movies all the time I wasn’t against using a gimmick like that as a crutch to fill out a word count. These days, with only myself as an editor, I don’t worry so much about word counts. I also only have myself to blame when I’m lazy so…

I guess I’ll write a little bit more 🙂

There’s so much going on intellectually and cinematically Jules and Jim is like the greatest student film ever made. The story is a complex melange of love, philosphy, art and politics and the film-making is a bravura mix of every trick in the book- including freeze frames, wipes, spinning camera work and archival footage. This the intellectual monument every film student wants to create. It’s “art” in every sense of the word. Jules and Jim is a grand, creative achievement and one of the highlights of the French New Wave.

And that will have to do, For now at least. I reserve the right to come back and edit this post at any time if and when my brains solidify and a proper review pops out.

Until then?

Oh look. A trailer.

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