This French film asserts that the brooding man frequenting your Pinterest pages is no good at all. Director Philippe Garrel’s “La Jalousie,” or “Jealousy,” paints the tale of Louis — a father and husband who is played by the filmmaker’s son, Louis Garrel. His story begins with his separation from his wife, Clothilde (Rebecca Covenant), partially as a result of romantic strains over financial struggles. A struggling actor, he seemingly begins to find purpose in assisting his new girlfriend, Claudia (Anna Mouglalis) — a fellow actor and apparent idealist — in finding work in theatre. With a brief 77-minute runtime, the film prompts viewers to play the voyeur as their priorities and ideals change as a result of the pressures of the industry, and their relationship deteriorates as a result.
Despite being released in 2013, the movie is shot in black and white and is often silent beyond sparse piano accompaniment or the sound of characters’ breaths. The use of 35mm film renders each scene soft and panoramic. Characters are often swathed in dark clothing, making their presence on the wide screen feel prominent and sullen. Garrel’s directorial choices seem to highlight each character and their autonomy and individuality — the notion of independence and a freedom to make the choices that they want, despite never being free from their consequences.
Louis’ pursuit of artistry is fruitless and reality soon weighs down on his relationship with Claudia, a bond that was initially built on aspiration. Claudia grows disenchanted with their scrappy, starving artists’ lifestyle across the film, and her final words to Louis include a lament that she can stand to be “broke,” but not “poor.” She craves a sense of security in her life that Louis resists, an emotional richness that can only be built through consistency and time. To Louis, however, meaning can be found in the small apartment the pair have sequestered themselves in while following their dreams. Claudia’s inability to find work as an actress for six years sparks resentment, driving her to move on.
Louis is a character who may garner more contempt than pity. His implied aspirations are first potentially relatable but ultimately fruitless. Even after leaving Clothilde for Claudia, he seeks out brief connections backstage of productions and in the darkness of movie theaters, surveying the world for romance and opportunity with unenthused, empty eyes.
The only consistent light in Louis’ life is his relationship with his daughter, Charlotte (Olga Milshtein). Her playful relationship with her father, as well as her dynamic with Claudia, gives the otherwise brooding film a sense of motion — a move that seems intentional on Philippe’s part. Charlotte’s warm presence seems an effort to highlight that the film’s adults truly find purpose through the warmth of humanity and relationships. It’s a sentiment that they feed into even if they don’t seem to realize: When Claudia gets cold, Louis grants her his scarf. When Charlotte feels a chill, she gets his coat and an embrace and ends up with Claudia’s hat, too. The young girl’s embrace of all of those around her and inquisitive nature are a highlight of the film, and the scenes of her bantering and wrestling with her father give the film a necessary sense of levity and purpose that grounds its point home.
A brief scene during the film’s first act sees Claudia tending to an elder bestselling author, who quotes a proverb: “The wise lives as much as he can, not as much as he must.” His successful, full life as a creative feels like a contrast to Louis’ own pursuit of similarly rich ends. As viewers follow his dogged and aimless lust for meaning, they get the sense that he will inevitably fail — a realization that dawns on him, too, as he grows more distant from his dream and his relationship with Claudia deteriorates. With heed to the character-driven storytelling inherent to French New Wave cinema, Phillipe’s understated tale is quietly tragic, questioning the ways in which we create both art and meaning.
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