Mother and the Whore Blu-ray

'The Mother and the Whore' Director: Jean Eustache (1973) Criterion Collection Blu-ray | 4K restoration | French w/ English subtitles

After the French New Wave, the sexual revolution, and the upheavals of May 1968 came the near religiously revered magnum opus by Jean Eustache. In his long-unavailable body of work, ranging from documentaries about his native village to closely autobiographical narrative films, Eustache pioneered a forthright and fearless brand of realism.

The pinnacle of this innovative style, The Mother and the Whore follows a Parisian pseudo-intellectual who lives with his tempestuous girlfriend, even as he begins a dalliance with a sexually liberated mistress, leading the three into an emotionally turbulent love triangle. Through daringly sustained long takes and confessional dialogue, Eustache captures a generation navigating the disillusionment of the 1970s, and in the process achieves an intimacy so deep it cuts.

Special features include:
- New interview with actor Françoise Lebrun
- New conversation with filmmaker Jean-Pierre Gorin and writer Rachel Kushner
- Program on the film’s restoration
- Segment from the French television series Pour le cinéma featuring Lebrun, director Jean Eustache, and actors Bernadette Lafont and Jean-Pierre Léaud
- Essay by critic Lucy Sante and an introduction to the film by Eustache