François Truffaut Classics on Blu-ray from BFI

Posted April 25, 2022 by Samuel Love

Feature

Widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave movement and certainly a pioneer in cinema as an artform, François Truffaut is an undisputed legend of film. His iconic and acclaimed films have long been celebrated as not just some of the best French films ever made, but some of the best in general. High praise indeed, but with Truffaut, it doesn’t get much better.

Two of his most beloved films – 1962’s Jules et Jim and his 1959 debut The 400 Blows – have been treated to new restorations, and those lovely folks at the BFI have put them out on Blu-ray, packed with fascinatingly insightful new bonus features. These two releases are absolutely essential purchases for any self-respecting film fan.

What are you waiting for? Add these two classics to your shelf now, and thank me later.

JULES ET JIM (1962)

Starting just before the Great War and spanning three decades, François Truffaut’s hugely popular classic depicts one of cinema’s most captivating love triangles, between two best friends – the Austrian Jules (Oskar Werner) and the French Jim (Henri Serre) – and the object of their mutual desire, the enigmatic and alluring Catherine, played with verve and sensitivity by Jeanne Moreau.

Fast, funny and stylish, Jules et Jim is a deeply affecting and engaging testament to love, loyalty and freedom, and remains a highly influential landmark of world cinema.

Presented in High Definition from a new 2K restoration

Audio commentary with Jeanne Moreau in conversation with film critic Serge Toubiana (2000)

François Truffaut panel discussion (2022, 54 mins): film scholars Pasquale Iannone, Marilyn Mallia, Sonali Joshi, Ginette Vincendeau and Catherine Wheatley discuss key themes and influences in Truffaut’s work

The John Player Lecture: François Truffaut (53 mins, audio): the director discusses his films

Jeanne Moreau in Conversation (1982, 83 mins, audio): the Jules et Jim star talks with Don Allen about her life and career

Screen Epiphanies: John Hurt on Jules et Jim (2010, 8 mins): the actor on his first viewing of the film and the lasting impression it left on him

Original theatrical trailer

2022 theatrical trailer

Stills gallery

**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet with essays by Pasquale Iannone, Lillian Crawford and Kieron McCormack

Jules et Jim is available from the BFI Shop here

THE 400 BLOWS (1959)

François Truffaut’s directorial debut introduces his enduring alter ego, Antoine Doinel (Jean-Pierre Léaud) – a misunderstood 12-year-old, neglected by his parents and mistreated by repressive schoolteachers, who seeks refuge in truancy, petty crime and, above all, cinema.

Truffaut’s most autobiographical film is widely regarded as one of the all-time great coming-of-age movies. A cinematic landmark that heralded the French New Wave, this rebellious, award-winning milestone is presented here on Blu-ray, from a new 4K restoration.

Presented in High Definition from a new 4K restoration

Audio commentary by Robert Lachenay (2002)

Audition footage (7 mins): Jean-Pierre Léaud, Patrick Auffay and Richard Kanayan in screen tests for The 400 Blows

Les Mistons (1957, 18 mins): Truffaut develops his distinctive style in this early short

Truffaut, Bazin, Renoir: A Love Story (2022, 20 mins): film academic Catherine Wheatley’s illustrated presentation, recorded at ‘François Truffaut’s Cinematic and Literary Influences Study Day’, BFI Southbank

Images of Paris: documentary gems from the BFI National Archive, including Panorama Around the Eiffel Tower (1900, 1 min), Metropolitan Railway of Paris (1913, 6 mins), and Lunch on the Eiffel Tower (1914, 1 min)