Jules Et Jim (1962)

Shortly before WWI, two best friends, the German Jules (Oskar Werner) and the French Jim (Henri Serre) fall under the influence of the enigmatic Catherine (Jeanne Moreau). It's Jules that marries her and though they fight on different sides during WWI, after the war they are reunited. But it's clear that Jules is not enough for Catherine and Jim becomes her lover. The word masterpiece is tossed around so often when describing films ("a comic masterpiece", "a masterpiece of political intrigue", "a masterpiece for the ages" etc.) so that when a genuine masterpiece comes along, it seems almost a waste of time to call it thus. But JULES ET JIM is a bonafide cinematic masterpiece. Francois Truffaut's elegiac film is pure cinematic poetry. Moreau's ambiguous, infuriating Catherine is one of the great performances by an actress in film. So often in movies, we're told how fascinating a character is even though the actor (or his performance) isn't fascinating at all. But we can see what draws Jules and Jim to Catherine because we, the audience, are drawn to her too. Truffaut catches all the messiness and complexities of a love that should never have happened in the first place. The music by Georges Delerue is one of the greatest film scores ever written. An exquisite film. With Marie Dubois, Vanna Urbino and Sabine Haudepin.