Directed by Jean Eustache • 1973 • France
Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun, Isabelle Weingarten
After the French New Wave, the sexual revolution, and the upheavals of May 1968 came the near religiously revered magnum opus by Jean Eustache. In his long-unavailable body of work, ranging from documentaries about his native village to closely autobiographical narrative films, Eustache pioneered a forthright and fearless brand of realism. The pinnacle of this innovative style, THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE follows Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a Parisian pseudo-intellectual who lives with his tempestuous girlfriend, Marie (Bernadette Lafont), even as he begins a dalliance with the sexually liberated Veronika (Françoise Lebrun), leading the three into an emotionally turbulent love triangle. Through daringly sustained long takes and confessional dialogue, Eustache captures a generation navigating the disillusionment of the 1970s, and in the process achieves an intimacy so deep it cuts.
Up Next in Directed by Jean Eustache
-
My Little Loves
Directed by Jean Eustache • 1974 • France
Starring Ingrid Caven, Henri Martinez, Martin LoebJean Eustache’s second and final narrative feature, MY LITTLE LOVES, follows Daniel (Martin Loeb) as he navigates the bewildering world of early adolescence. Living with his grandmother (Jacqueline Dufra...
-
Robinson’s Place
Directed by Jean Eustache • 1963 • France
Jean Eustache’s first completed narrative short, a portrait of emotionally immature men on the prowl for female companionship, cemented the template for his subsequent fictions. Aristide Demonico and Daniel Bart play Parisian friends who try to pick up t...
-
Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes
Directed by Jean Eustache • 1966 • France
Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Gérard Zimmermann, Henri MartinezIn this early narrative short by Jean Eustache, French New Wave icon Jean-Pierre Léaud stars as Daniel, a ne’er-do-well who loafs around Paris with his friends in search of easy money and pret...
