The Mother and the Whore

The Mother and the Whore

Directed by Jean Eustache • 1973 • France
Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun, Isabelle Weingarten

After the French New Wave, the sexual revolution, and May 1968 came THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE, the legendary, autobiographical magnum opus by Jean Eustache that captures, through the microcosm of a ménage à trois, a disillusioned generation navigating the 1970s. The aimless, clueless Parisian pseudo-intellectual Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Léaud) lives with his tempestuous older girlfriend, Marie (Bernadette Lafont), and begins a dalliance with the younger, sexually liberated Veronika (Françoise Lebrun, Eustache’s own former lover), leading to a volatile open relationship marked by everyday emotional violence and subtle but catastrophic shifts in power dynamics. Transmitting his own sex life to the screen with a startling immediacy, Eustache achieves an intimacy so deep, it cuts.

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The Mother and the Whore
  • The Mother and the Whore
    3:39:15
    The Mother and the Whore

    The Mother and the Whore

    Directed by Jean Eustache • 1973 • France
    Starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun, Isabelle Weingarten

    After the French New Wave, the sexual revolution, and May 1968 came THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE, the legendary, autobiographical magnum opus by Jean Eustache that captures, through the microc...

Extras

  • Jean-Pierre Gorin and Rachel Kushner
    32:48
    Jean-Pierre Gorin and Rachel Kushner

    Jean-Pierre Gorin and Rachel Kushner

    In this conversation, recorded in Los Angeles in 2024, filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin talks with writer Rachel Kushner, his friend, about director Jean Eustache, his influences, and the cultural context of THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE.

  • Françoise Lebrun
    14:25
    Françoise Lebrun

    Françoise Lebrun

    In the following interview, recorded in New York City in 2022, actor Françoise Lebrun discusses the making of THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE and the thread that connects director Jean Eustache’s films.

  • Cannes, 1973
    10:43
    Cannes, 1973

    Cannes, 1973

    This segment, from a special edition of the French television series Pour le cinéma, was filmed at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival. In it, director Jean Eustache and actors Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Pierre Léaud, and Françoise Lebrun discuss THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE, which won the Grand Prix.

  • THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE: The Restoration
    17:05
    THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE: The Restoration

    THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE: The Restoration

    This 2022 program delves into the restoration and rediscovery of THE MOTHER AND THE WHORE, fifty years after the film’s initial release.

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