La maman et la putain (1973)

Director:

Jean Eustache

Writer:

Jean Eustache (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

6 July 1973 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Voyeur | Sidewalk Cafe | Female Frontal Nudity | Anesthetist | Cafe

Awards:

3 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Bernadette Lafont	...	Marie
Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	Alexandre
Françoise Lebrun	...	Veronika
Isabelle Weingarten	...	Gilberte
Jacques Renard	...	Alexandre's Friend
Jean-Noël Picq	...	Offenbach's Fan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jean-Claude Biette	...	Café Les Deux Magots' Customer (uncredited)
Pierre Cottrell	...	(uncredited)
Jessa Darrieux	...	(uncredited)
Jean Douchet	...	Café de Flore's Customer (uncredited)
Douchka	...	(uncredited)
Bernard Eisenschitz	...	Café de Flore's Customer (uncredited)
Jean Eustache	...	Man in Sunglasses in Store (uncredited)
Berthe Granval	...	(uncredited)
Caroline Loeb	...	(uncredited)
Marinka Matuszewski	...	(uncredited)
Geneviève Mnich	...	(uncredited)
Noël Simsolo	...	Café de Flore's Customer (uncredited)
André Téchiné	...	Café Les Deux Magots' Customer (uncredited)

Directed by
Jean Eustache

Writing credits
Jean Eustache		(scenario and dialogue)

Produced by
Vincent Malle	....	co-producer: V.M. Productions (uncredited)
Bob Rafelson	....	producer (uncredited)

Cinematography by
Pierre Lhomme

Film Editing by
Denise de Casabianca
Jean Eustache

Costume Design by
Catherine

Production Management
Claude Bertrand	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Luc Béraud	....	assistant director
Rémy Duchemin	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Nara Kollery	....	sound mixer
Paul Lainé	....	sound recordist
Jean-Pierre Ruh	....	sound recordist

Camera and Electrical Department
Michel Cénet	....	assistant camera
Bernard Prim	....	still photographer
Jacques Renard	....	assistant camera

Editorial Department
Monique Prim	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Pierre Cottrell	....	presenter
Irina Lhomme	....	script girl (as Irène Lhomme)

Production Companies

• Elite Films (co-production) (as Élite Films)
• Ciné Qua Non (co-production)
• Les Films du Losange (co-production)
• Simar Films (co-production)
• V.M. Productions (co-production) (as V M Productions)

Distributors

• Artificial Eye (UK) (theatrical)
• Euro Space (1996) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Good Movies (2001) (Argentina) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• New Yorker Films (1974) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Planfilm (1973) (France) (theatrical)
• Artificial Eye (1998) (UK) (VHS)
• Kinokuniya (2003) (Japan) (DVD)
• New Yorker Films (2001) (USA) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Les Films Michel François  titles
• Studios de Billancourt  sound post-production (as Paris-Studios-Cinéma)

Also Known As:

The Mother and the Whore (USA)

Runtime:

Argentina:217 min | Japan:217 min | UK:215 min | USA:210 min | France:217 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Portugal:17 (cut version) | Argentina:16 | Finland:K-16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris 6, Paris, France

Company:

Elite Films

Trivia:

Jean Eustache wrote the role of Alexandre specifically for Jean-Pierre Leaud.

Goofs:

Continuity: While reading the book of Gestapo at his friend's home, Alexandre is holding a cigarette in his right hand in the close-up. In the next shot he is only holding the book.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Soundtrack:

Requiem

One of the most moving films of the "past" century

La Maman et la Putain has to be watched as a movie that is both related to the time it was released (post-68) and eternal in many respects. True, the actors don't "act" ... True, they talk a lot... But what they talk about is just what makes life worth living... or dying. The very long monologue spoken by Françoise Lebrun is perhaps the most accurate and moving text that was ever written about womanhood, manhood and love. Not easy to translate accurately, though. This movie is a statement about the difficulty of being a man and a woman (or two women in this case). And IMHO, Jean Pierre Léaud is one of the greatest French actors.