What is happiness for the two of them ? To Juul and Jim, sharing the passion for literature and art and the vision of ideal love is the pursuit of happiness. From the beginning of the film, the two people regard each other as their close relationship. The girl I just met asked "Jim and Juul?" in the taxi, "No, Juul and Jim!" Jim corrected.
Cervantes gave Don Quixote a loyal servant and allowed him to keep on stupid thoughts and do stupid things to help him clean up the mess. But "Don Quixote" is actually an idealized novel about ideals, and there is basically no such person in reality. Juul and Jim define their relationship as Don Quixote's master and servant. Truffaut told us that there is something idealistic about these two people, and they both regard money as dung.
Before the outbreak of World War I, Paris’s intellectuals and cafe culture were extremely prosperous. German Juul and French Jim met at that time. They talked about novels and plays in cafes all day, talked about Shakespeare and Picasso, read what they wrote to each other, and together fantasized about the appearance of beautiful women like Greek statues. (They watched a slideshow of their friends’ statues in Greek photography and were attracted by their beauty. They immediately went to the Adriatic Sea and found the most beautiful statue.)
I envy their friendship and their love for literature, art, and love. The attitude of perfect pursuit. This attitude seems to have disappeared today. We are all busy all day long, and it would be nice to say hello when we meet. Who would be willing to spend half a day or even a day talking about nothing but nothing? Even when talking about literature and art, who would really be patient to talk about works that really concern the human soul? Not to mention love. The love we are looking forward to has long become a rich, powerful and beautiful Prince Charming or Snow White.
However, the two of them are the kind of people who have almost disappeared. Soon, they met another kind of people who had almost disappeared-the goddess Catherine, who was as beautiful as a statue. Almost at the same time, they both fell in love with her. The three of them spent a young and innocent time together, and their lives were extremely free, wild, and innocent.
She alone
As soon as Catherine appeared, Truffaut used various front and side close-ups to compare her beauty with the beauty of the Greek statue in front, making people wonder how the goddess-like noble and indifference could descend on a physical body. In fact, Truffau is particularly obsessed with Catherine's actor Jane Moreau. When he saw her for the first time, he was just like Juul and Jim, he was immediately ecstatic, fell in love with her, and gave her the script of "Juul and Jim" on the spot. Before the filming started, Truffau had spent some time in one of her villas with Jane Moreau. By their side, there was Moru's ex-husband Richard. Truffau is attracted by Richard's attitude of rejecting fashion and playing life, just as Juul and Jim are attracted to each other in the film. ——This old history is probably one of the reasons why the film was so successful after it was released!
Catherine’s succinct and poetic monologue at the beginning of the film—you said: I love you/I said: wait/I was going to say: take me away/you said: go away—tell us that the film must be an elegy about love . In fact, in the romantic and brisk steps of the first half of the film, there are also foreshadowings that love will be frustrated and life will be hurt (Catherine jumped down the Seine without warning, burned her letter in the brazier, accidentally burned her dress, and carried it with her. Carry sulfuric acid).
When World War I broke out, Juul lost contact with Jim. After the correspondence, Juul had married Catherine and had a daughter. When Jim appeared in front of them again, Catherine, who had been improperly considered that Juul was her husband, fell in love with Jim (Catherine’s first lover was him. She had refused Juul’s proposal several times, but was vulnerable to Juul’s body at a certain moment. Simple temperament attracted and fell in love with and married him). But after a long time, Catherine tried to love Julie again. Jim couldn't bear it and decided to return to the arms of the old lover in Paris.
Don't blame Catherine for being a slut. She is just too fragile and sensitive and wants absolute equality in love. Whether with Juul or Jim, she had betrayed, it was because she felt left out and left behind by the one she loved. In fact, she flirted with Jule again because she found out that Jim hadn't fulfilled the old lover who had left Paris that Jim had promised her, and they still had contacts. She chose to cheat because it can be evened out, and hopes that both sides can forget the unhappiness and start over.
Of course, the possibility of starting over again is very small. In the correspondence between Catherine and Jim, because of her emotions, it took a few days for the letter to reach the other person (they said they would not make a phone call), and the child who was finally pregnant with Jim was knocked out.
At the end of the film, Jim told Catherine that in a book she read, she saw a paper about fantasy and sex with a stranger, and told her that he was going to marry an old lover. After hearing this, Catherine said sadly: "What about me? What about me?" Then, she said goodbye to Jule with a smile, and under Jule's gaze, while showing a noble and mysterious smile, she calmly moved the car with Jim. Drove into the river. The lonely Juul only took back two boxes of ashes.
As some commentators have said, Truffaut did not include a clear moral concept in this film. But the greatest significance of this film to future generations may also be this kind of friendship and a few loves that have confused moral concepts, and they are all more fascinating because they are related to this mysterious woman named Catherine. .
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