The Mother and the Whore (1973) (n/b, Criterion Collection, Edizione Restaurata, Edizione Speciale, 2 DVD)

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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.

TWO-DVD SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:
New 4K digital restoration
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
Trailer
New English subtitle translation
PLUS: An essay by critic Lucy Sante and an introduction to the film by Eustache

New cover by Eric Skillman