The Mother and the Whore (1973)

La maman et la putain

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE OF THE 4K RESTORATION

"I'd heard it was a classic of French cinema, but I wasn't exactly thrilled at a three-hour-thirty-five minute foreign language film that reportedly consisted of little more than people sitting around talking. Little did I know that I was in for one of the most memorable cinematic experiences of my life." — Andrew Johnson, Time Out New York

Widely regarded as the film that marked the end of the French New Wave, Jean Eustache’s opus is a ruthless examination of sexual politics inside a ménage à trois, and played out in tiny apartments and Parisian bistros in Saint-Germain-des-Près. The three characters are graduates of the May ’68 cultural revolution and their mating habits and dialogues are filled with confessions and monologues ranging from the sexual, to the humorous and the provocative. A completely unique masterpiece. Cinema Reborn presents the Australian premiere of the new 4K restoration.

“Best film of the 1970s.” — Cahiers du Cinéma

“An insult to the nation.” — Le Figaro

“A self-consuming masterwork that seems to burn itself up as it passes through the projector.” — The New Yorker

Introduced by David Roe, who has been making and marketing films since the 1970s. His own productions include The Coca-Cola Kid (MGM) and Storyville (Sony). David was the original Australian distributor of The Mother and the Whore.

Rating

Unclass15

Duration

215 min

Language

French, English subtitles

Cast

Jean-Pierre Léaud, Bernadette Lafont, Françoise Lebrun

Director

Jean Eustache