Jules and Jim
Okay, I am being silly, because you can’t compare these two at all – one is a generic eroge adaptation and the other a true masterpiece. In result, this film makes me want to go to the Cimetière de Montmartre and leave some flowers on Truffaut’s grave.
A propos Truffaut’s grave, I read some articles about the film and noticed a trivia saying that the video for “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer actually is full of references to the film – it has all those charming little details from the film that make the film so unique and so perfectly french.
I have to admit that I kind of used to like that song (I was 14 and never kissed) because of its stupid lyrics, so it was kind of an interesting surprise for me.
In the end, I am very glad that the nationality of Jules and Jim actually was not all that important – the First World War and the epoch are just a small element in the whole thing, the focus is actually on the characters themselves and their relationship. Just thinking about it makes me feel bad and fascinated at the same time. (Maybe the triangle is also why I started watching School Days?)
Apart from the fact that I think that this film is a masterpiece (especially its directing! <3), I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody. The main reason lies in the quite complicated character of Catherine. To sum it up, she’s quite an awful woman with an awful voice doing awful things. Jules (or was it Jim) said it too: “She’s not beautiful, she is not intelligent, but she is the woman we love.” In some ways, this is the definition of a classical femme fatale: Women who have this something that is not easily to grasp. Personally I can understand their attraction towards this woman, but maybe this is because I am a woman myself. If I were a guy, I might feel different about her.
I could go on with a long passage on why I find these ‘femme fatales’ so interesting and rant about Alma Mahler, but I think I should call it a day. This film is going to be on my list of films to re-watch anyways. (But before that, I have to check out if Truffaut’s other films are as interesting as this.)
femme fatales are great, i agree XD
they can be quite different from one another, however; my favorite one is probably the Diane Tremayne Jessup kind from “Angel Face”, who is abysmally evil though actually more intelligent than the man who is overcome by fatal attraction (the Robert Mitchum character who is just so stupidly gullible, although he claims the opposite, ahaha~). The ending to that film is just such a bold confirmation of this particular power constellation, audacious and exhilarating as it may be, it’s also quite depressing, haha. But yeah. I adore that film. !!!
Jules & Jim has been on my to-watch list for a while, i will probably rent it sometime this week! ^^