Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Francois Truffaut
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner, Henri Serre, Vanna Urbino, Serge Rezvani
From: Several French companies
It was time for me to see a “serious” film, one you'd see in film school. I understand why some don't like it, because the most important character does many terrible things throughout, but it was not a turn-off. I explain why below:
While I enjoy watching sleaze and trash and wacky movies, sometimes I do dig into the serious works, the stuff that film fans should see. That includes the work of Francois Truffaut. I'll be honest and admit I haven't watched too many of his motion pictures in my life, something I am ashamed to admit. I mean, one of my dominant opinions of him is how I was not a fan of Close Encounters of the Third Kind but I had no problem with his acting role and in fact I would have liked to have seen more of the great duo that was him and Bob Balaban. As I also need to see more French New Wave in general, this was an easy choice for a movie to watch.
In the time of World War I, the film is about a love triangle between Frenchman Jim, reserved Austrian pal Jules, and Jules' girl Catherine. Going in, I heard heard some criticism about Catherine, to say the least. It was not sexist commentary, mind you... it was legitimate annoyance and even hatred concerning her actions. That was a concern for me. Turns out, she was an awful, awful human being. Rather than be charmed by this polyamorous love triangle, I found it to be a horror story where a terrible mentally ill woman ruined the lives of a pair of friends who I thought were more than just friends... she was thankfully called out for her behavior but what a cruel way it ended.
What does help my rating for this is how well the film is made. The camera moves around often (but not in the modern way it's done today, where it is usually nauseating to watch), the colorful editing, the narration that often pops up... it may just be something that someone noticed and tied it together on their own, but allegedly Scorsese was inspired by this film and used it as a blueprint for how Goodfellas would be put together, and I definitely see it. I enjoyed how inventive the movie was when it came to how it was constructed. There's also the evocative and charming musical score. The filmmaking and how I interpreted the story (admittedly a different reading than what others would say) is why I give this high marks despite one of the main characters being utterly maddening.
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