Jean Eustache

Directing

Jean Eustache

Born 1938-11-30 · Pessac, Gironde, France

Jean Eustache was born on November 30, 1938 in Pessac, Gironde, France. He was a director and editor, known for The Mother and the Whore (1973), Mes Petites Amoureuses (1974) and Les photos d'Alix (1980). He died on November 3, 1981 in Paris, France.

Acting credits

The American Friend poster
7.1

Tom Ripley, an American who deals in forged art, is slighted at an auction in Hamburg by picture framer Jonathan Zimmerman. When Ripley is asked by gangster Raoul Minot to kill a rival, he suggests Zimmerman, and the two, exploiting Zimmerman's terminal illness, coerce him into being a hitman.

The American Friend

1977

The Mother and the Whore poster
7.3

Aimless young Alexandre juggles his relationships with his girlfriend, Marie, and a casual lover named Veronika. Marie becomes increasingly jealous of Alexandre's fling with Veronika and as the trio continues their unsustainable affair, the emotional stakes get higher, leading to conflict and unhappiness.

The Mother and the Whore

1973

Céline and Julie Go Boating poster
6.8

Julie, a daydreaming librarian, meets Céline, an enigmatic magician, and together they become the heroines of a time-warping adventure involving a haunted house, psychotropic candy, and a murder-mystery melodrama.

Céline and Julie Go Boating

1974

Weekend poster
6.9

A supposedly idyllic weekend trip to the countryside turns into a never-ending nightmare of traffic jams, revolution, cannibalism and murder as French bourgeois society starts to collapse under the weight of its own consumer preoccupations.

Weekend

1967

The Accompaniment poster
NR

A musician has to compose a commissioned work for a film. But his mind is guided by external solicitations that constantly divert him from his work.

The Accompaniment

1969

My Little Loves poster
6.8

Daniel lives with his grandmother and, after a year of high school, goes to live with his mother in the south of France; a harsher environment which rapidly changes his perception of friends, work, and women.

My Little Loves

1974

Numéro zéro poster
8.5

A family portrait in which the director profiles his grandmother, Odette Robert. Eustache includes in the film the conditions of its production — he is seated at the table with her, pours her some whiskey, speaks with the camera operator, manipulates the clapboard at the head and tail of the reels, and even takes a phone call. Robert, who was seventy-one, speaks rapidly and tells the story of her life, starting from her early childhood in villages in the Bordeaux region of France. A shorter version of the film ("Odette Robert") was edited in 1980 to be broadcast on television on TF1. The complete film only gained exposure in 2002, when it was salvaged by Boris Eustache, Thierry Lounas, João Bénard da Costa, Jean-Marie Straub, and Pedro Costa.

Numéro zéro

1971

Bernadette Lafont: And God Created the Free Woman poster
6.5

A journey in the company of Bernadette Lafont, French Cinema’s most atypical actress. Tracing her career from pin-up girl, to New Wave model of sexual freedom, to drug-dealing granny in the film Paulette, by way of La Fiancée du Pirate and Les Stances à Sophie, this film pays tribute to her extraordinary life and artistic odyssey. Her grand-daughters, Anna, Juliette and Solène, revisit the dreams of Bernadette, in the family home in the Cevennes region where they, like her, grew up. Her close friends, Bulle Ogier and Jean-Pierre Kalfon, reminisce on their artistic and human complicity. Throughout the film, Bernadette Lafont in person, with her inimitable character actress voice, re-evokes a life in cinema marked with insolence, courage and freedom.

Bernadette Lafont: And God Created the Free Woman

2016

imagenaction poster
NR

The confrontation of reality and dream.

imagenaction

2024

Odette Robert poster
6.8

Eustache’s grandmother Odette Robert was a key figure in his life, serving as a substitute mother during much of his childhood (My Little Loves was dedicated to her). In 1971, he recorded an interview with her that went largely unseen until 2003—Eustache never screened the complete film publicly, although a radically truncated version was presented on television. In a string of long, stationary takes, the camera watches over Eustache’s shoulder while he pours countless glasses of whiskey and Odette tells the stories of her life. A number of her themes resonate with those of Eustache’s films: cruelty, male philandering, the Rosière festival of Pessac. Number Zero is a return to origins—of cinema and of the self—and an experiment in narration, both restrained and deeply personal.

Odette Robert

1971

A Dirty Story poster
6.1

A group of friends listen as one man tells them a story about a time when, in a small cafe, he discovered a peephole into the ladies' bathroom and became addicted to looking through it at female genitals. They ask him questions and come to conclusions about sex. This is a filmed, scripted version. Then, the actual person who this happened to relates the same story; this time, however, it is an unscripted documentary, in which the same things occur as in the scripted one.

A Dirty Story

1977

No artwork available
NR

Milena Gabanelli sits in her room while listening to one of the last voice recordings of Jean Eustache.

To Jean Eustache

1982

Vincent Put the Donkey in a Meadow (And Went Into the Other) poster
5.2

This is the tale of a father-son duo who are unable to leave each other. The trouble begins when the son decides to destroy his father's image.

Vincent Put the Donkey in a Meadow (And Went Into the Other)

1976

Robinson's Place poster
7.0

Two young men near the place de Clichy are looking for fun and whatever trouble comes with it. Unsurprisingly, their attention ultimately falls on a girl. They go to a dancing called "Robinson". Spurned when she decides to go dancing with someone else, their thoughts quickly turn to revenge. Slowly, we discover the layer of despair that sits just under their carefree appearance.

Robinson's Place

1964

Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes poster
7.2

Daniel needs some money to buy a duffle coat that is in fashion, so he agrees to work for a photographer by dressing up as Santa Claus. He discovers that it is much easier to meet girls when he is in his costume.

Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes

1966

The Ministries of Art poster
7.3

Philippe Garrel’s documentary on France’s second wave of masterful filmmakers. Featuring Jean Eustache, Chantal Akerman, André Téchiné, Leos Carax, Jacques Doillon and Benoit Jacquot.

The Ministries of Art

1989

Jean Eustache's Wasted Breath poster
NR

Ángel Díaz’s documentary The Lost Sorrows of Jean Eustache, concentrates on Eustache as cinematic thinker and archivist of his own life. Actors read texts written by Eustache, including the following reflection: “The role of the author in cinema should be one of non-intervention.” This sentence reminds us that he belongs to the greatest of film traditions (he cites Griffith, Renoir, Dreyer, and Lang as his models), the one that sees cinema as a matter of placing the camera in front of reality and capturing it ardently, precisely, and without tricks.

Jean Eustache's Wasted Breath

1997

Young Cinema: Godard and His Emulators poster
6.0

Influenced and inspired by Jean-Luc Godard, some young french directors (Jean Eustache, Francis Leroi, Jean-Michel Barjol, Romain Goupil, Luc Moullet) are talking about their problems in producing less expensive and more free films in the french industry of cinema of the 60's.

Young Cinema: Godard and His Emulators

1967

Les Roses de la vie poster
6.7

François Truffaut said of Paul Vecchiali in his early days that he was "the only true heir of Jean Renoir." The first short film of this director, who was to become a singular figure of independent French cinema, follows the path of an elderly woman towards her memories and beyond. Attentive, affectionate and sometimes cruel, Vecchiali's camera invents its own expressive language.

Les Roses de la vie

1962

Behind the camera

The Mother and the Whore poster
7.3

Aimless young Alexandre juggles his relationships with his girlfriend, Marie, and a casual lover named Veronika. Marie becomes increasingly jealous of Alexandre's fling with Veronika and as the trio continues their unsustainable affair, the emotional stakes get higher, leading to conflict and unhappiness.

The Mother and the Whore

1973

The Mother and the Whore poster
7.3

Aimless young Alexandre juggles his relationships with his girlfriend, Marie, and a casual lover named Veronika. Marie becomes increasingly jealous of Alexandre's fling with Veronika and as the trio continues their unsustainable affair, the emotional stakes get higher, leading to conflict and unhappiness.

The Mother and the Whore

1973

My Little Loves poster
6.8

Daniel lives with his grandmother and, after a year of high school, goes to live with his mother in the south of France; a harsher environment which rapidly changes his perception of friends, work, and women.

My Little Loves

1974

My Little Loves poster
6.8

Daniel lives with his grandmother and, after a year of high school, goes to live with his mother in the south of France; a harsher environment which rapidly changes his perception of friends, work, and women.

My Little Loves

1974

Numéro zéro poster
8.5

A family portrait in which the director profiles his grandmother, Odette Robert. Eustache includes in the film the conditions of its production — he is seated at the table with her, pours her some whiskey, speaks with the camera operator, manipulates the clapboard at the head and tail of the reels, and even takes a phone call. Robert, who was seventy-one, speaks rapidly and tells the story of her life, starting from her early childhood in villages in the Bordeaux region of France. A shorter version of the film ("Odette Robert") was edited in 1980 to be broadcast on television on TF1. The complete film only gained exposure in 2002, when it was salvaged by Boris Eustache, Thierry Lounas, João Bénard da Costa, Jean-Marie Straub, and Pedro Costa.

Numéro zéro

1971

The Evening poster
4.3

Unfinished film by Jean Eustache . A couple kisses. A group of friends talk inside a room. One of them reads from a paper.

The Evening

1961

The Evening poster
4.3

Unfinished film by Jean Eustache . A couple kisses. A group of friends talk inside a room. One of them reads from a paper.

The Evening

1961

Postface: La Petite Marchande d'allumettes poster
5.0

Jean Renoir talks about the making of La Petite Marchande d'allumettes.

Postface: La Petite Marchande d'allumettes

1969

Odette Robert poster
6.8

Eustache’s grandmother Odette Robert was a key figure in his life, serving as a substitute mother during much of his childhood (My Little Loves was dedicated to her). In 1971, he recorded an interview with her that went largely unseen until 2003—Eustache never screened the complete film publicly, although a radically truncated version was presented on television. In a string of long, stationary takes, the camera watches over Eustache’s shoulder while he pours countless glasses of whiskey and Odette tells the stories of her life. A number of her themes resonate with those of Eustache’s films: cruelty, male philandering, the Rosière festival of Pessac. Number Zero is a return to origins—of cinema and of the self—and an experiment in narration, both restrained and deeply personal.

Odette Robert

1971

Odette Robert poster
6.8

Eustache’s grandmother Odette Robert was a key figure in his life, serving as a substitute mother during much of his childhood (My Little Loves was dedicated to her). In 1971, he recorded an interview with her that went largely unseen until 2003—Eustache never screened the complete film publicly, although a radically truncated version was presented on television. In a string of long, stationary takes, the camera watches over Eustache’s shoulder while he pours countless glasses of whiskey and Odette tells the stories of her life. A number of her themes resonate with those of Eustache’s films: cruelty, male philandering, the Rosière festival of Pessac. Number Zero is a return to origins—of cinema and of the self—and an experiment in narration, both restrained and deeply personal.

Odette Robert

1971

Odette Robert poster
6.8

Eustache’s grandmother Odette Robert was a key figure in his life, serving as a substitute mother during much of his childhood (My Little Loves was dedicated to her). In 1971, he recorded an interview with her that went largely unseen until 2003—Eustache never screened the complete film publicly, although a radically truncated version was presented on television. In a string of long, stationary takes, the camera watches over Eustache’s shoulder while he pours countless glasses of whiskey and Odette tells the stories of her life. A number of her themes resonate with those of Eustache’s films: cruelty, male philandering, the Rosière festival of Pessac. Number Zero is a return to origins—of cinema and of the self—and an experiment in narration, both restrained and deeply personal.

Odette Robert

1971

A Dirty Story poster
6.1

A group of friends listen as one man tells them a story about a time when, in a small cafe, he discovered a peephole into the ladies' bathroom and became addicted to looking through it at female genitals. They ask him questions and come to conclusions about sex. This is a filmed, scripted version. Then, the actual person who this happened to relates the same story; this time, however, it is an unscripted documentary, in which the same things occur as in the scripted one.

A Dirty Story

1977

A Dirty Story poster
6.1

A group of friends listen as one man tells them a story about a time when, in a small cafe, he discovered a peephole into the ladies' bathroom and became addicted to looking through it at female genitals. They ask him questions and come to conclusions about sex. This is a filmed, scripted version. Then, the actual person who this happened to relates the same story; this time, however, it is an unscripted documentary, in which the same things occur as in the scripted one.

A Dirty Story

1977

Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Delights poster
7.0

Filmed by Jean Eustache for the television program, Les Enthousiastes, Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Delights presents a series of unstructured observations, free associations, and interpretations on the third panel of Bosch's well-known oil on wood triptych.

Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Delights

1981

Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Delights poster
7.0

Filmed by Jean Eustache for the television program, Les Enthousiastes, Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Delights presents a series of unstructured observations, free associations, and interpretations on the third panel of Bosch's well-known oil on wood triptych.

Hieronymus Bosch's Garden of Delights

1981

The Virgin of Pessac poster
6.8

This landmark documentary by Jean Eustache, filmed in 1968, hilariously exposes small-town pomposity and naiveté as it chronicles the preparations for an annual contest to crown a village’s most virtuous young woman.

The Virgin of Pessac

1968

The Virgin of Pessac poster
6.8

This landmark documentary by Jean Eustache, filmed in 1968, hilariously exposes small-town pomposity and naiveté as it chronicles the preparations for an annual contest to crown a village’s most virtuous young woman.

The Virgin of Pessac

1968

The Pig poster
6.0

In the French countryside it's the day for peasants to kill a big fat pig. The slaughter goes on for a great part of the day as they work to store 140kg worth of meat.

The Pig

1975

The Pig poster
6.0

In the French countryside it's the day for peasants to kill a big fat pig. The slaughter goes on for a great part of the day as they work to store 140kg worth of meat.

The Pig

1975

The Virgin of Pessac 79 poster
7.2

In 1979, under the presidency of the city mayor, the people of Pessac elect a virtuous and gracious maiden from amongst the residents, following a tradition that comes from times immemorial.

The Virgin of Pessac 79

1979

The Virgin of Pessac 79 poster
7.2

In 1979, under the presidency of the city mayor, the people of Pessac elect a virtuous and gracious maiden from amongst the residents, following a tradition that comes from times immemorial.

The Virgin of Pessac 79

1979

Alix's Pictures poster
6.5

Alix Cléo Roubaud, a photographer, describes her images to Eustache’s son Boris. An “essay in the shape of a hoax”, Eustache’s last film wittily questions the relationship between showing and telling as it gradually shifts Alix’s narration out of sync with what we see.

Alix's Pictures

1982

Robinson's Place poster
7.0

Two young men near the place de Clichy are looking for fun and whatever trouble comes with it. Unsurprisingly, their attention ultimately falls on a girl. They go to a dancing called "Robinson". Spurned when she decides to go dancing with someone else, their thoughts quickly turn to revenge. Slowly, we discover the layer of despair that sits just under their carefree appearance.

Robinson's Place

1964

Robinson's Place poster
7.0

Two young men near the place de Clichy are looking for fun and whatever trouble comes with it. Unsurprisingly, their attention ultimately falls on a girl. They go to a dancing called "Robinson". Spurned when she decides to go dancing with someone else, their thoughts quickly turn to revenge. Slowly, we discover the layer of despair that sits just under their carefree appearance.

Robinson's Place

1964