The Mother and the Whore

The Mother and the Whore centres on Alexandre, a young man in Paris who drifts without work or study and devotes himself to the women around him. He lives with Marie, a shopkeeper older than himself, while carrying on with Veronika, a nurse he approaches one day on a café terrace. He also remains attached to Gilberte, a student who turns down his marriage proposal. Marie eventually tolerates Veronika's presence, and the three settle into an arrangement that Alexandre finds satisfying but that breeds jealousy and unhappiness in the women.

Jean Eustache wrote and directed the film, his first feature, followed the next year by My Little Loves. Jean-Pierre Léaud plays Alexandre, with Bernadette Lafont as Marie, Françoise Lebrun as Veronika and Isabelle Weingarten as Gilberte. Bob Rafelson produced. Running 219 minutes and set amid endless conversation, the film belongs to the years after the upheavals of 1968.

On IMDb it holds 7.7/10 from about 7,700 votes, and on TMDB 7.3/10 from roughly 205 votes. Critics rate it considerably higher, 9.3/10 across 35 reviews, so the film's standing rests largely on critical regard rather than broad audience approval.