Truffaut’s classic love triangle remains as tender, wise, and beautiful as ever. The friendship between the titular bohemians (unforgettably portrayed by Henri Serre and Oskar Werner) somehow endures through WWI and their shared love for the fickle heartbreaker Catherine (Jeanne Moreau)… for a while, at least. Shot in gorgeous black and white by go-to New Wave cinematographer Raoul Coutard, and lovingly adapted from the novel by Henri-Pierre Roché.

“I wanted to tell you that Jules and Jim seems to me the most accurate expression of contemporary French society that I’ve seen on-screen. By situating your film in 1914 you gave your depiction and even more exact tone, for the birth of today’s way of thinking and behavior dates back to cars trimmed with gleaming brass… It is very important for us men to know where we stand with women, and equally important for women to know where they stand with men. You help dissipate the fog that envelops the essence of this question. For this, and for many other reasons, I thank you with all my heart.”
—Jean Renoir to Francois Truffaut