Maman et la putain (la)   

English title: The Mother and the Whore

Genre: romantic drama (in black and white)

With: Jean-Pierre Léaud (Alexandre), Bernadette Lafont (Marie), Françoise Lebrun (Veronika), Isabelle Weingarten (Gilberte), Jacques Renard (Alexandre's friend), Jean-Noël Picq (the Offenbach fan)

Director: Jean Eustache

Screenplay: Jean Eustache

Release: 1973

Studio: Élite Films, Ciné Qua Non,  Les Films du Losange et al.

Rating: -

MBiS score: 8.2/10 

 

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Story-line: if Alexandre doesn't have a job, it's probably because he has too much to do already. He lives with Marie, still loves his former squeeze Gilberte, is heartbroken when he learns that Gilberte will marry a doctor but is already attracted to Veronika, a girl he saw sitting at a restaurant terrace. Sounds complicated? It is! 

Pluses: an intense performance by Jean-Pierre Léaud as the intellectual and insatiable Alexandre (his quasi theatrical soliloquies are mesmerizing), strong support from Bernadette Lafont and Françoise Lebrun, a personal and quirky screenplay enlivened by playful, weighty or sometimes mean-spirited dialogues, leisurely direction, modest but adequate production values and Pierre Lhomme’s attractive – even brilliant – cinematography.

Minuses: LA MAMAN ET LA PUTAIN is a lengthy movie (three and a half hours) but it never feels boring, an amazing feat for a psychological drama featuring few characters and limited action.

Comments: LA MAMAN ET LA PUTAIN is a feast of human emotions – love, hate, ambivalence, commitment, desertion – and a fine example of that French fascination for esoteric relationships. Alexandre is trapped in a strange love triangle that takes unpredictable directions. As you see him waffling and wondering what to do, you may feel little sympathy for the relentless womanizer he seems to be but this will change once you get to know the man behind the snobbish facade. All things told, Jean Eustache’s film is a revealing study about relationships and a fine vehicle for Jean-Pierre Léaud – a Truffaut favourite – tackling another complicated and exacting role. 

 

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