La maman et la putain

Die Mama und die Hure

Director: Jean Eustache
Country: France

1973 | 220 min. | French
Subtitles: German, English

Cast_ Bernadette Lafont, Jean- Pierre Léaud, Françoise Lebrun, Isabelle Weingarten Screenplay_ Jean Eustache Camera_ Pierre Lhomme Producer_ Pierre Cottrell, Bob Rafelson, Vincent Malle Rights_ Boris Eustache

A singular work in the history of film, which confronts the dual heritage of the Nouvelle Vague and of May '68. The manifesto of an entire generation.

In La maman et la putain, Jean Eustache tells the story of Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Léaud), who has just split up with Gilberte and now lives in an open relationship with Marie (Bernadette Lafont from La fiancée du pirate), who supports him financially. He also secretly starts dating Veronika (Françoise Lebrun from Mon coeur est rouge) after meeting her in a café.

La maman et la putain peerlessly manages to capture the atmosphere of the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district of Paris in the early seventies. "I feel like I have lived with this film as long as it has existed. Like many filmmakers, I have wondered how to achieve again what Eustache achieved. I think the answer is that it can't be done again.” (Olivier Assayas)

With the support of the Institut français

Director

Jean Eustache was born in Pessac in 1938 and died in Paris in 1981. Despite his relatively small oeuvre, he immortalised himself in the annals of French film history. From 1963 to 1980, he made a total of twelve films. His magnum opus, La maman et la putain, was awarded the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1973 Cannes International Film Festival.