The Mother and the Whore
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.
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New interview with actor Françoise 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 cinéma featuring Lebrun, director Jean Eustache, and actors Bernadette Lafont and Jean-Pierre Léaud
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Lucy Sante and an introduction to the film by Eustache
New cover by Eric Skillman
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
- New interview with actor Françoise 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 cinéma featuring Lebrun, director Jean Eustache, and actors Bernadette Lafont and Jean-Pierre Léaud
- Trailer
- New English subtitle translation
- PLUS: An essay by critic Lucy Sante and an introduction to the film by Eustache
New cover by Eric Skillman
Cast
- Bernadette Lafont
- Marie
- Jean-Pierre Léaud
- Alexandre
- Françoise Lebrun
- Veronika
- Isabelle Weingarten
- Gilberte
- Jacques Renard
- Alexandre’s friend
- Jean-Noël Picq
- Offenbach fan
- Jean Eustache
- Man in the supermarket
- Jessa Darrieux
- Also featuring
- Bertha Grandval
- Also featuring
- Geneviève Mnich
- Also featuring
- Marinka Matuszewski
- Also featuring
Credits
- Director
- Jean Eustache
- Written by
- Jean Eustache
- Director of photography
- Pierre Lhomme
- Assisted by
- Jacques Renard
- Assisted by
- Michel Cenet
- Sound by
- Jean-Pierre Ruh
- Sound by
- Paul Laine
- Sound mixer
- Nara Kollery
- Costume designer
- Catherine Garnier
- Editor
- Jean Eustache
- Editor
- Denise de Casabianca
- Assistant editor
- Monique Prim
- Script supervisor
- Irène Lhomme
- Assistant director
- Luc Béraud
- Assistant director
- Rémy Duchemin
- Set photographer
- Bernard Prim
- Production manager
- Claude Bertrand
- Executive producer
- Pierre Cottrell
- Coproduced by
- Élite Films
- Coproduced by
- Ciné Qua Non
- Coproduced by
- Les Films du Losange
- Coproduced by
- Simar Films
- Coproduced by
- V.M. Productions
Trailer for The Mother and the Whore
