Jocelyn: A weird, dusty walk through French melodrama

Is this for you?

Honestly, you should watch Jocelyn if you have a thing for black-and-white dramas that take themselves incredibly seriously. If you get bored when people talk for ten minutes without moving, or if you prefer movies that don't feel like they were filmed inside a velvet-lined box, you’ll probably hate it. It’s definitely not for the casual Friday night crowd.

The pacing here is... well, it’s a choice. You can practically hear the director counting the seconds during the long, lingering close-ups. There is one shot of Jacqueline Carlier looking out a window that lasts so long I actually checked to see if my player had frozen. It hadn't. She just kept looking. It’s almost hypnotic if you’re tired enough.

Oddly Specific Notes

• The lighting is very 'stage-play-at-noon.' Everything feels just a little too flat.
• The costumes look like they were pulled directly from a trunk and given a quick dusting before the cameras rolled.
• There is a moment near the middle where Louis Rouyer trips over his own robes. They kept it in! It’s the most human thing in the entire movie.

It’s funny how movies like this try to capture such big, sweeping romantic gestures, but they end up feeling tiny. It reminded me a bit of the suffocating atmosphere in La cousine Bette, but without the bite. Everything is just so polite and repressed.

I found myself drifting off during the scenes involving the clergy. They are meant to be heavy with meaning, I suppose, but they mostly just felt like a nap. It reminded me of the stillness in Der Wetterwart, except that one actually had a point to its silence.

The sound design is basically non-existent. You hear every scratch and pop on the original print. It adds a weird, gritty texture to a film that is trying so hard to be elegant and pristine. It’s a strange clash.

If you love old films for the sake of just seeing how they used to move the camera, have at it. It’s not a masterpiece, and it doesn't try to be. It’s just... a thing that exists. Sometimes that’s enough. Other times, I just want a bit more life in the room. 🎞️