The chauvinist Alexandre balances relationships with several women, including the maternal Marie and the sexually liberated Veronika, in the post-1968 intellectual scene of Paris.
Get gifting with IMDb's Holiday Gift Guide, curated with the entertainment lover in mind!
Related News
-
Pierre Lhomme Dies: Celebrated French Cinematographer Of ‘Cyrano De Bergerac’ Was 89
05 July 2019 | Deadline -
Pierre Lhomme, Legendary French Cinematographer, Dies at 89
05 July 2019 | The Hollywood Reporter -
Kevin Corrigan Is Every Hollywood Hack in Nsfw Short ‘The Poet and the Professor’ — Watch
14 February 2019 | Indiewire
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: The Mother and the Whore (1973)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
3 wins & 1 nomination.
See more awards »
Learn more
More Like This
Mes Petites Amoureuses
(1974)
Drama
Director:
Jean Eustache
Stars:
Martin Loeb,
Jacqueline Dufranne,
Jacques Romain
Celine and Julie Go Boating
(1974)
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Fantasy
Director:
Jacques Rivette
Stars:
Juliet Berto,
Dominique Labourier,
Bulle Ogier
Out 1
(1971)
Drama
|
Mystery
Directors:
Jacques Rivette,
Suzanne Schiffman
Stars:
Michèle Moretti,
Hermine Karagheuz,
Karen Puig
The Travelling Players
(1975)
Drama
|
History
|
Music
Director:
Theodoros Angelopoulos
Stars:
Eva Kotamanidou,
Vangelis Kazan,
Aliki Georgouli
My Night at Maud's
(1969)
Certificate: GP
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Éric Rohmer
Stars:
Jean-Louis Trintignant,
Françoise Fabian,
Marie-Christine Barrault
Children of Paradise
(1945)
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Marcel Carné
Stars:
Arletty,
Jean-Louis Barrault,
Pierre Brasseur
La Belle Noiseuse
(1991)
Drama
Director:
Jacques Rivette
Stars:
Michel Piccoli,
Jane Birkin,
Emmanuelle Béart
Day for Night
(1973)
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
François Truffaut
Stars:
Jacqueline Bisset,
Jean-Pierre Léaud,
François Truffaut
Les photos d'Alix
(1980)
Short
Director:
Jean Eustache
Stars:
Alix Clio-Roubaud,
Boris Eustache
Sans Soleil
(1983)
Documentary
|
Drama
Director:
Chris Marker
Stars:
Florence Delay,
Arielle Dombasle,
Riyoko Ikeda
Marketa Lazarová
(1967)
Drama
|
History
|
Romance
Director:
Frantisek Vlácil
Stars:
Josef Kemr,
Magda Vásáryová,
Nada Hejna
Wavelength
(1967)
Drama
Director:
Michael Snow
Stars:
Hollis Frampton,
Lyne Grossman,
Naoto Nakazawa
Edit
Cast
| Complete credited 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 |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
See All (309) »
Storyline
In Paris, the pedantic Alexandre lives with his mate Marie in her apartment, an open relationship. Alexandre, who is idle and chauvinist, spends his days reading, drinking and shagging women. After flirting with his former affair, Gilberte, who tells him that she will marry soon her boyfriend, Alexandre meets the Laenne Hospital nurse Veronika Osterwald and they schedule a date. Alexandre learns that Veronika is a promiscuous woman that loves to shag and introduces her to Marie. They have a threesome and Alexandre has a crush on Veronika. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Plot Keywords:
written by director | male objectification | bare chested male | threesome | reading |Certificate:
See all certifications »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
FranceLanguage:
FrenchRelease Date:
17 May 1973 (France) See more »Also Known As:
The Mother and the Whore See more »Company Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Sound Mix:
MonoColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
Edit
Alexandre: I saw it done in a film. Films teach you how to live, how to make a bed.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. See more »Goofs
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. See more »Quotes
Veronika: [after seeing Alexandre making the bed by jumping with the sheets on top of it] Funny way to make a bed.Alexandre: I saw it done in a film. Films teach you how to live, how to make a bed.
See more »
Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.Contribute to This Page
On IMDb TV, you can catch Hollywood hits and popular TV series at no cost. Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free!
Explore popular action and adventure titles available to stream with Prime Video.
It is not an easy film to watch - it is over three and a half hours long and it is composed entirely of conversations. Yet it is so incredibly compelling and ruthlessly observational of the human character, that it is, in my humble opinion, one of the very greatest films of all time.
The film is depressing, cynical and cruel. (If you want something uplifting, see Jacques Rivette's fantastic Céline and Julie Go Boating, which was made around the same time). It shows the idealism of the late 1960s to be nothing different from the society that it was trying to change.
It involves a supposedly liberated ménage-à-trois between Alexandre (played by Jean-Pierre Leaud), Marie (Bernadette Lafont) and Veronika (Francoise Lebrun). Yet Alexandre is shown to be as chauvinistic and jealous as any other man. The women are exposed as being willingly subservient and defining their femininity through the male gaze.
The film is an extremely icy end to the highly revolutionary French New Wave. This movement was one of the most significant movements in film history and had a profound effect on cinema as we know it. Jean-Pierre Leaud was one of the key actors of the New Wave, having starred (among other films) in the influential Les Quatres Cent Coups (1959) by Francois Truffaut as a rebellious teenager. Director Jean Eustache is not as well known as other directors from the New Wave, but he should be.
There is no improvisation (unlike in John Cassavetes's similar films made in the US) and the dialogue comes from real-life conversations. The film is resonant with Eustache's personal experiences. For example, Francoise Lebrun was a former lover of Eustache. Eustache himself committed suicide in 1981 and the real-life person that the character Marie was based on, did too. The anger and bitterness all culminate in a harrowing monologue by Veronika delivered directly to the audience, breaking down the coldly objective nature of the rest of the film. This mesmerising, personal, and honest filmic statement remains one of the most revealing films of human nature around.