Rent The Mother and the Whore (1973)
3.9 of 5 from 66 ratings
3h 38min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
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 Leaud), a Parisian pseudo-intellectual who lives with his tempestuous girlfriend, Marie (Bernadette Lafont), even as he begins a dalliance with the sexually liberated Veronika (Frangoise 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. - Actors:
- Bernadette Lafont, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun, Isabelle Weingarten, Jacques Renard, Jean-Noël Picq, Jessa Darrieux, Berthe Granval, Geneviève Mnich, Marinka Matuszewski, Jean-Claude Biette, Pierre Cottrell, Jean Douchet, Douchka, Bernard Eisenschitz, Jean Eustache, Caroline Loeb, Noël Simsolo, André Téchiné
- Directors:
- Jean Eustache
- Producers:
- Bob Rafelson
- Writers:
- Jean Eustache
- Aka:
- La maman et la putain
- Genres:
- Classics, Drama, Lesbian & Gay, Romance
- Countries:
- France
- Awards:
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 20/01/2025
- Run Time:
- 218 minutes
- Languages:
- French LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- New interview with actor Frangoise Lebrun
- New conversation with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin and writer Rachel Kushner
- Program on the film's restoration
- Segment from the French television series Pour le cinema featuring Lebrun, director Jean Eustache, and actors Bernadette Lafont and Jean-Pierre Leaud
- Trailer
- An essay by critic Lucy Sante and an introduction to the film by Eustache
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 20/01/2025
- Run Time:
- 218 minutes
- Languages:
- French LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Full Screen 1.37:1
- Colour:
- B & W
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
More like The Mother and the Whore
Reviews (1) of The Mother and the Whore
Mistakes Talking for Change - The Mother and the Whore review by griggs
Jean-Pierre Léaud spends nearly four hours talking, smoking and catastrophically overanalysing his love life, and somehow I never wanted him to stop.
Alexandre drifts between two women in The Mother and the Whore, treating honesty like a weapon. He's exhausting, magnetic and the kind of man you'd cross a café to avoid. Bernadette Lafont and Françoise Lebrun do the real work, giving the film its nerve and its heartbreak. Alexandre just keeps talking about himself.
Jean Eustache shoots it all in grainy black-and-white, turning a cramped Paris flat into a confession booth nobody asked to enter. The conversations loop, but that's rather the point: this is what it feels like to be stuck in a room with someone who mistakes talking for change.
Alexandre gets to be free. The women are left cleaning up after him. It's gorgeous, exhausting post-'68 wreckage, and I'm already plotting a rewatch — ideally on the big screen, with a small ashtray.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.