The Mother and the Whore
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Synopsis
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 Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Léaud), a Parisian pseudo-intellectual who lives with his tempestuous girlfriend, Marie (Bernadette Lafont), even as he begins a dalliance with the sexually liberated Veronika (Françoise Lebrun), 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.
Picture 7/10
Making its long-awaited North American home video debut, The Mother and the Whore arrives in 4K UHD from The Criterion Collection, presented on a triple-layer disc in its original 1.37:1 aspect ratio. The 10-bit SDR 2160p/24hz ultra high-definition presentation comes from a new 4K restoration by Les Films du Losange, sourced from the 16mm positive reversal A/B rolls and a 35mm duplicate element. A standard dual-layer Blu-ray is also included, featuring a 1080p version of the film alongside all special features.
Given the film’s nearly four-hour runtime, I had my doubts about how well the presentation would hold up with everything packed onto a single disc—triple-layer or not. To my surprise, the UHD encode is mostly solid, handling grain well while preserving finer details and textures. The inherent limitations of the source material and the film’s low-budget production (shot on location using available light) are evident, but the image remains sharp and clean overall. The restoration work is impressive, with no major damage standing out.
Where the presentation falters is in its grading and contrast, which are wildly inconsistent. In many sequences—particularly in the apartment or other dimly lit interiors—contrast and grayscale look good, with deep blacks, bright whites, and smooth gradations. Shadows hold up well, though some scenes lean too dark, likely due to the original lighting conditions. However, in brighter exteriors or well-lit interiors, the image can appear blown out, with a narrower grayscale range that flattens the image. These scenes take on a slightly artificial, overly smooth digital quality that doesn’t feel organic to film development. They just come out looking very, very gray, almost silver.
It’s a frustrating inconsistency, as the digital presentation is otherwise strong. At its best, it has a clean, well-managed encode with a natural filmic quality, benefitting immensely from the jump to 4K—something I never would have expected for this film.
Audio 7/10
The film’s dialogue-heavy French monaural soundtrack, presented in lossless PCM, won’t put your sound system through its paces, but it sounds surprisingly good for what it is. Fidelity is solid, with a fairly wide range, and there are no issues with distortion or damage.
Extras 5/10
Unavailable in North America outside of bootlegs—and marking the first Eustache film to be released by the label—Criterion surprisingly keeps the supplements (all housed on the standard Blu-ray) fairly slim. The most substantial extra is a new 32-minute conversation between Jean-Pierre Gorin and author Rachel Kushner. They discuss their first encounters with the film and its impact before delving into its historical context, particularly in the wake of May '68, and its place within the French New Wave. Naturally, this leads into broader discussions on politics in cinema, and the two even touch on Jean-Pierre Léaud’s performance and his legacy as an actor.
Also included is a new 14-minute interview with Françoise Lebrun, recorded in 2022 by Criterion, in which she recalls her introduction to Eustache’s work, their first meeting, and her experience collaborating with him on the film. A 17-minute restoration demonstration follows, offering one of the more detailed breakdowns I’ve seen, covering the condition of the original materials and the restoration process (though the provided color grading example happens to be from one of the better-looking scenes). Rounding things out is a trailer for the new restoration and a 10-minute excerpt from a 1973 episode of Pour le cinéma, featuring interviews with Eustache, Lebrun, Léaud, and Bernadette Lafont at the film’s Cannes premiere.
While it’s great to have The Mother and the Whore finally available in North America, I still expected a bigger splash of a special edition, especially considering the film’s reputation and the mystique surrounding Eustache. What’s here is certainly worthwhile, particularly the very academic Gorin/Kushner discussion and the Lebrun interview, but a more substantial exploration—perhaps archival material, one of his shorts, or a more in-depth documentary on Eustache’s career—would have been welcome.
Closing
Questionable aspects of the restoration aside (along with the release's slim selection of supplements), it’s still remarkable to finally have the film in such a clean and sharp presentation—especially in 4K.
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