Jules Et Jim (1962)

Composer(s):
Georges Delerue

Released in:
1962

Reviews

A wish that should have been permitted
by Dorian (February 19, 2005)
If I was to pick one favorite score for every composer, it would be very hard to find one for many of the composers. However, for Georges Delerue, the answer is easy - Jules Et Jim.
The movie is a classic itself - François Truffaut's adaption of Henri Roché's novel about a love triangle set to 1910's is still well-known and well-regarded after 44 years of existence. And just like all movie fans like the movie, all soundtrack fans certainly like the score.
The opening title begins with a loud orchestra, playing a theme which is not heard again in the score. Instead, for the movie itself, Delerue composed a beautiful theme, which perfectly suits the mood of the movie - no matter if it accompanies a love rupture (slow version played on flute) or the scene where Jules, Jim and Catherine are running to the beach (version played on harpsichord), the theme captures the spirit of the movie indeed very well. Of course there are more varied pieces in the score, which include a song "Le Tourbillon" sung by Jeanne Moreau herself (the song is actually composed by Cyrus Bassiak, who also plays Albert, the character responsible for the composition). The theme of "Le Tourbillon" is also used as a final theme, marking the tragical ending of the relation between the three characters.
With such a beautiful score, it is very sad there still has not been a soundtrack release which might be considered as 'definitive'. It was obvious that the original release came out as a 4 track EP, containing the main themes from the movie. Although the 1988 Prometheus CD restored lots of new material to a 26:25 suite, there are several reserves: the one-track suite is not chronological (the opening title being nonsensely almost at the end of the suite), but also not well-sequenced anyway. The sound quality is definitely not good (no wonder since it came out in 1988) and it misses the song "Le Tourbillon". For a listening experience, the Auvidis compilation of Georges Delerue may be more interesting - it has a 12-minute-long selection from Jules Et Jim, beginning with the opening spoken monologue and the opening title, feauting "Le Tourbillon" and ending with the end title. However, there are also sometimes disturbing dialogues and the sound quality is not much good either (this release was obviously taken directly from the movie print). A 7:30 suite appeared recently on the CD "Le Cinéma de François Truffaut" in good remastered sound, beginning with the opening title, but missing lots of music.
The "se dépêcher à la plage" theme is also used in Hommage à François Truffaut, played on piano by Georges Delerue himself.

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