La maman et la putain, review of the film by Jean Eustache

A film legendary in the way it goes down in history, impressive in its duration, liberating and raw in the way it is told, Grand Jury Prize to 1973 Cannes Film Festival Where it caused a scandal, and remained unseen for decades, arriving from March 13 for the first time in cinema. mother and butane to Jean Eustache. A false comedy of good manners, an acid opposition to Nouvelle Vague, true black diamond For French cinema, film eustache It’s all centered on a certain sober way of talking to each other, a certain way of men and women of looking out for each other, of meeting, of missing each other, of making themselves suffer, which resonates with the themes of the day but perhaps less codified and more ambiguous and more dangerous and therefore more honest. .

La maman et la putain, the journey of reaching the public

mother and butane It tells of a few days in the life of an unemployed young man, Alexander (Jean Pierre Laud), who spends most of his daily life chatting in coffee shops. He lives with his mistress Marieplayed before Bernadette LafontWhile trying to impress his ex-girlfriend Gilbertplayed before Isabelle Weingartenback to him. On the other hand, start dating Veronica (Francoise Lebrun), a young nurse he meets on the street.

On January 19, 2022, Charles GilbertDirector of the production and distribution company De Losange FilmsHe told Le Monde newspaper Boris Eustacheson Jean EustacheHe has given him the rights to all of his father’s films. The prematurely-deceased director’s major film was practically nowhere to be found, save for a quick broadcast on France’s Arte channel in 2013, a Japanese import DVD and a pale copy on YouTube which has since been removed. Boris Eustache Their rights were denied for decades for their own reasons. The lucky spectators who saw him formed a circle that shared a wonderful secret.

Thanks agreement between Boris Eustache And Les Films du Losange (one of the film’s original production companies), WORK eustache It has been restored in 4K with the help of cinematographers who were involved with the shoot such as Jack Pace or Caroline ChampeterIn cooperation with the Film Restoration Laboratory I found the picture.

The movie “Wahshi” in form and content

mother and butane It is a “brutal” and truly comprehensive film for its length – about forty-three hours of film – but above all for its content: it is actually composed as an immersion in a black and white world where the word is sovereign . to rule this world Alexanderan elegant young man, without a job or money, lives with him Marie Which, literally, keeps it. Alexander first tries to reconnect Gilbert, an ex-girlfriend left him, but she pushed him away. meet after that Veronica, a nurse, whom he started dating while he was still with Mary. The entire plot of the film will be played out between these three individuals, in an impossible love triangle, an unsolvable mathematical equation. away from personalities Francois TruffautAnd Jean Pierre Laud Explanation here a Alexander Gloomy and arrogant, he shouts his monologues as if in a theater, in front of an attentive and affectionate audience. Gradually, we see behind the public artist an entity devoid of compassion for others, terribly selfish and cowardly: he listens only to himself, and speaks without realizing the harm he is doing to those around him. Language is like a mask for this man who finds it difficult to make choices, evades all duties, and hides his emotions.

Veronica (Francoise Lebrun, in her film debut) embodied the female body as a gift, sexuality and love. “If I meet a guy, I go with him, I don’t have a problem, I can have sex with anyoneHe says. Speak frankly, tell it like it is, face life fully, without being afraid of it, unlike Alexander. Marie (Bernadette Lafont) Instead of that “Old mistressShe is clearly the mother of the title, everything revolves around her, everything happens in her house, in her bed Alexander To come and go, to control and manipulate, while deluding herself with the love he might feel for her.

between film and documentary

Self mother and butane It’s a film of epic scope, and it also blurs the lines between fiction and documentary. It’s an understatement to say that the director based his movie on his own life: First, he had an affair with him Francoise Lebrunwho left before filming. He had dated other women during their relationship, including Marinka MatuszewskiThe nurse who appears in a scene at the beginning of the movie when Alexander replace it with Veronica. Francoise Lebrun explains Veronicabut in real life, it is Gilbert’s character who leaves Alexander at the beginning of the film (the director did a job lebron audio recordings Marinka for inspiration).

eustache He has also started dating him Catherine GarnerCostume designer and his assistant: The film was shot directly in his apartment lafont to use it as inspiration for his role. After viewing the first montage, Catherine Garner Anther’s work committed suicide by the director himself, who shot himself in the heart in November 1981. This complex relationship between reality and fantasy clearly shows the director’s approach, which stores as many elements of his private life as possible and injects them into his imagination. .

mother and butane Filmed as a documentary: Live Sound, No Post-Production Editing. One really perceives Paris at that time, with all its noises, which cover even the dialogues. A lover of silent cinema and gods the brothers lumiereAnd eustache He preferred the square format (1.33:1) and high-contrast black and white. Maman and Bhutan It is also a comprehensive film, which gives it a special place in the history of cinema. eustache He wanted to put himself in it, as if it were his first film: it is a film that leaves a deep impression on the viewer, who comes out with a strange sense of sharing parts of the director’s life.

Alexander fall

Maman and Bhutan It begins when the protagonist gets out of bed and ends with him kneeling. film Jean Eustache Follows a fall path Alexander, of which an important last image survives: the face distorted by a fleeting smile. That mouth full of words, that never stops pouring them in, makes one last nervous grimace, as if suffering from the negative effect of its overflowing. Suddenly speechless, she still could not stop being silent and open up again in this gloom to express the anguish of a body so lost, troubled and stunned by its fall to such an extent. Apathetic charlatan Alexander He believed he was in control of himself and eventually revealed himself as a puppet. The ease of his speech, with which he was gifted thanks to his smug mindset, together with his obstinate cunning, deceived his own world: Speech is lying. In front of the idle camera from eustacheThe body betrays the deception of speech, to pass the last word to the body.

mother and butane It is a painful and sad meditation on a life weighed down by the weight of death, a life we ​​spend pretending to live it, until we tire and fall. “I have no calling for life“, He says Alexander Towards the end of the movie, with a deep realization of who was humiliated by death.