art isn't about 'identification'... entertainment is.

Great post!

Life indeed isn't always a happy occasion and Truffaut shows this beautifully with Jules et Jim. It's a theme which is to be found in all of his films I believe and for me it's part of the reason Truffaut is always able to profoundly move me. His films acknowledge the fact that life and love don't always turn out to be happy, the way we mostly think they should be. This is part of the reason why I find his films to be so completely honest.

This could indeed be a reason for people to not like this film. It all starts so wonderfully for Jules and Jim, but the further the film and their relation with Catherine goes, the further their despair reaches. If this has to do with "identification" however, I don't know. Perhaps many people aren't looking for a film which shows them how life can turn out for the worse, but instead they're looking for something which inspires and entertains. Perhaps people can identify with the despair, but they're just not looking for that in a film?
On another level though, it was quite difficult for me to identify with some of the emotions, reasons and choices the main characters make. This because the affair and relationship they have is far removed from my own experiences. It took me another viewing to gain a more comprehensive insight in those aspects and therefore a stronger emotional connection. If you meant 'identification' from this angle, then I would agree with you.


You said, "I love you," I said, "Wait"
I was going to say, "Take me," you said, "Go away"

I'll agree in so far that entertainent is more about identification than art, but at the same time I find that a bit of a dodge. It feeds into the old canard that entertainment = empty and disposable and easy while art = challenging and no fun but good for you.

However, I find "Citizen Kane" to be very entertaining while challenging. And I've seen a few too many "art" films buy into notion that the mere act of turning an audience off is a sign of profundity.

I would suggest that what is meant by "identification" is really "relatibility". That is, standard commerical product is always worrying about the audience's ability to "relate" to the protagonist. That would be different from "identifying" with them. Something like, oh, "Jerry Maguire" needs you to relate to the lead character. Not in everything they chose to do:the point of drama is that a character will make mistakes. You can relate to why they are the way they are, and observe their flaws as they make them, so that when they realize the error their ways, they are moving towards the place you want them to go (i.e get the girl, happy ending). On the other hand you can have a film like "American Psycho" which does not ask you to "relate" to a serial killer, but to "identify" and observe his behavior from his point of view.

To "Jules & Jim", I have a problem with both relating and identifying with the film and the characters in it. I understand a love triangle between two friends. I can even understand one where the friends are reasonable, and the action occurs without the melodrama of yelling and fighting, though it would be harder to pull off. With this film, however, there wasn't a moment that registered true. With the stilted dialouge and the strangely passive reactions, it felt more like a movie interested in itself than anything that would resemble actual human behavior, even if it was inspired by actual events.