Jean Eustache  

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-{{Template}}'''Jean Eustache''' ([[November 30]], [[1938]] - [[November 3]], [[1981]]) was a [[France|French]] [[filmmaker]].+{{Template}}
 +'''Jean Eustache''' ([[November 30]], [[1938]] - [[November 3]], [[1981]]) was a [[French filmmaker]] best known for his 1973 film ''[[The Mother and the Whore]]'' and his various [[short subject]]s such as ''[[Le Jardin des délices de Jérôme Bosch]]''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXu-8tXKWjU]. Jean Eustache directed just two [[feature film]]s he would make before committing [[suicide]] in 1981.
-In 1973 Jean Eustache directed what would become one of just two narrative features he would make before committing suicide in 1981. "The Mother and the Whore" ("La maman et la putain") is Eustache’s three-hour-and-forty-minute rumination on love, relationships, men and women. The film’s central three-way romance plot focuses on Alexandre ([[Jean-Pierre Léaud]]), his girlfriend Marie ([[Bernadette Lafont]]) and the nurse he meets and falls in love with, Veronika ([[Françoise Lebrun]]). Aside from "The Mother and the Whore", Eustache’s filmography consists of [[Mes petites amoureuses]] (1974), his other narrative feature, and a handful of documentaries and shorts, most notably "Santa Claus Has Blue Eyes" ([[Le Père Noël a les yeux bleus]], 1966) which also stars Léaud.+In his obituary for Eustache, the influential critic [[Serge Daney]] wrote: ''"In the thread of the desolate 70s, his films succeeded one another, always unforeseen, without a system, without a gap: film-rivers, short films, TV programs, hyperreal fiction. Each film went to the end of its material, from real to fictional sorrow. It was impossible for him to go against it, to calculate, to take cultural success into account, impossible for this theoretician of seduction to seduce an audience."''
-There exists relatively little information about Eustache’s life prior to the time he became a perfunctory member of the [[Cahiers du cinema]] crowd in the late fifties. Information suggests that the mystery surrounding his youth was intentional, with sources stating that "during his lifetime Eustache published little information about his early years, indicating that he felt no nostalgia for an unhappy childhood." (John Wakeman, World Film Directors, Vol. 2)+==Biography==
 +Eustache was born in [[Pessac]], [[Gironde]], France into a [[working class]] family. Relatively little information exists about Eustache’s life prior to the time he became a member of the ''[[Cahiers du cinema]]'' crowd in the late fifties, though it is known that he was largely [[self-educated]] and worked in the [[railroad]] service prior to becoming a filmmaker. Information suggests that the mystery surrounding his youth was intentional, with sources stating that "during his lifetime Eustache published little information about his early years, indicating that he felt no nostalgia for an unhappy childhood." (John Wakeman, World Film Directors, Vol. 2)
-He was born in [[Pessac]], [[Gironde]], France. After months of immobilization due to an auto accident, Eustache killed himself in [[Paris]] a few weeks before his 43rd birthday.+Though not a member of the [[French New Wave|Nouvelle vague]], Eustache maintained ties to it, appearing as an actor in [[Jean-Luc Godard]]'s ''[[Week End]]'' and editing [[Luc Moullet]]'s ''[[Une aventure de Billy le Kid]]'', which starred [[Jean-Pierre Leaud]] (the lead in Eustache's ''[[The Mother and the Whore]]'').
-Eustache found his way around the [[French New Wave|Nouvelle vague]], but has never been part of the movement.+After becoming a filmmaker, Eustache maintained close ties to his friends and relatives in Pessac. In 1981, he was partially immobilized in an auto accident. He killed himself in his apartment [[Paris]], a few weeks before his 43rd birthday.
-Quoted as saying, “The films I made are as autobiographical as fiction can be.”+Eustache had a son, Boris Eustache (b. 1960), who worked on his father's second feature and appears as an actor in Eustache's short film ''[[Les Photos d'Alix]]''.
-== Filmography ==+ 
 +== Work ==
 + 
 +Eustache was quoted as saying, “The films I made are as autobiographical as fiction can be.” Because of his reticence to discuss his personal life, it is assumed that his body of work was largely autobiographical. Besides his fictional shorts and features, Eustache made numerous [[documentary film|documentaries]], many of them very personal, including several shot in his hometown of Pessac and a feature-length interview with his grandmother.
 + 
 +Eustache directed two narrative features. The first, ''[[The Mother and the Whore]]'' (''La maman et la putain''), is a three-hour-and-forty-minute rumination on love, relationships, men and women. The film’s central [[love triangle|three-way romance]] plot focuses on Alexandre ([[Jean-Pierre Léaud]]), his girlfriend Marie ([[Bernadette Lafont]]) and the nurse he meets and falls in love with, Veronika ([[Françoise Lebrun]]).
 + 
 +Eustache’s second feature, ''[[Mes petites amoureuses]]'' (1974), was intentionally different from his debut. Shot in color 35mm by acclaimed cinematographer [[Nestor Almendros]] (as opposed to ''The Mother and the Whore'''s [[film grain|grainy]] black-and-white), the film also features significantly less dialogue and focuses on teenage characters in a rural setting.
 + 
 +=== Remakes and Serial Works ===
 + 
 +Eustache admired the documentary qualities of early [[actuality films]], and frequently cited the [[Lumiere Brothers]] as influences. He made two films about a religious parade in Pessac, both titled ''[[La Rosière de Pessac]]'', in 1968 and 1979, and remade his short ''[[Une sale histoire]]'' twice. Regarding the tendency to re-examine in Eustache's work, the American film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: ''"An obsessive-compulsive filmmaker and clearly a tormented one who wound up dying by his own hand, Eustache was clearly experimenting with his variations as well as goading viewers into examining their own reactions to them."''
 + 
 +=== Filmography ===
* ''[[La soirée]]'' (1961), unfinished * ''[[La soirée]]'' (1961), unfinished
* ''[[Les Mauvaises Fréquentations]]'' (1963), 42 minutes (first title, 16 mm), aka ''[[Du côté de Robinson]]'' (second title, 35 mm); "Bad Company" aka "Robinson's Place" (English titles) * ''[[Les Mauvaises Fréquentations]]'' (1963), 42 minutes (first title, 16 mm), aka ''[[Du côté de Robinson]]'' (second title, 35 mm); "Bad Company" aka "Robinson's Place" (English titles)
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* Two TV-films of 26 minutes each one in 1969: ''[[Sur Le dernier des hommes de Murnau]]'' and ''[[A propos de La petite marchande d'allumettes de Jean Renoir]]'' * Two TV-films of 26 minutes each one in 1969: ''[[Sur Le dernier des hommes de Murnau]]'' and ''[[A propos de La petite marchande d'allumettes de Jean Renoir]]''
* ''[[Le Cochon]]'' (1970), 65 minutes, directed with Jean-Michel Barjol; "The Pig" (English title) * ''[[Le Cochon]]'' (1970), 65 minutes, directed with Jean-Michel Barjol; "The Pig" (English title)
-* ''[[Numéro zéro]]'' (1971), 110 minutes (TV-version: ''[[Odette Robert]]'', 54 minutes)+* ''[[Numéro zéro]]'' (1971), 110 minutes (TV-version: ''[[Odette Robert]]'', 54 minutes): a portrait of Eustache's elderly grandmother.
* ''[[The Mother and the Whore|La Maman et la putain]]'' (1973), 220 minutes; "The Mother and the Whore" (English title) * ''[[The Mother and the Whore|La Maman et la putain]]'' (1973), 220 minutes; "The Mother and the Whore" (English title)
* ''[[Mes petites amoureuses]]'' (1974), 120 minutes * ''[[Mes petites amoureuses]]'' (1974), 120 minutes
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* ''[[Le Jardin des délices de Jérôme Bosch]]'' (1980), 34 minutes; "Hieronymous Bosch's Garden of Delights" (English title) * ''[[Le Jardin des délices de Jérôme Bosch]]'' (1980), 34 minutes; "Hieronymous Bosch's Garden of Delights" (English title)
* ''[[Offre d'emploi]]'' (1980), 18 minutes * ''[[Offre d'emploi]]'' (1980), 18 minutes
 +
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Jean Eustache (November 30, 1938 - November 3, 1981) was a French filmmaker best known for his 1973 film The Mother and the Whore and his various short subjects such as Le Jardin des délices de Jérôme Bosch[1]. Jean Eustache directed just two feature films he would make before committing suicide in 1981.

In his obituary for Eustache, the influential critic Serge Daney wrote: "In the thread of the desolate 70s, his films succeeded one another, always unforeseen, without a system, without a gap: film-rivers, short films, TV programs, hyperreal fiction. Each film went to the end of its material, from real to fictional sorrow. It was impossible for him to go against it, to calculate, to take cultural success into account, impossible for this theoretician of seduction to seduce an audience."

Contents

[edit]

Biography

Eustache was born in Pessac, Gironde, France into a working class family. Relatively little information exists about Eustache’s life prior to the time he became a member of the Cahiers du cinema crowd in the late fifties, though it is known that he was largely self-educated and worked in the railroad service prior to becoming a filmmaker. Information suggests that the mystery surrounding his youth was intentional, with sources stating that "during his lifetime Eustache published little information about his early years, indicating that he felt no nostalgia for an unhappy childhood." (John Wakeman, World Film Directors, Vol. 2)

Though not a member of the Nouvelle vague, Eustache maintained ties to it, appearing as an actor in Jean-Luc Godard's Week End and editing Luc Moullet's Une aventure de Billy le Kid, which starred Jean-Pierre Leaud (the lead in Eustache's The Mother and the Whore).

After becoming a filmmaker, Eustache maintained close ties to his friends and relatives in Pessac. In 1981, he was partially immobilized in an auto accident. He killed himself in his apartment Paris, a few weeks before his 43rd birthday.

Eustache had a son, Boris Eustache (b. 1960), who worked on his father's second feature and appears as an actor in Eustache's short film Les Photos d'Alix.

[edit]

Work

Eustache was quoted as saying, “The films I made are as autobiographical as fiction can be.” Because of his reticence to discuss his personal life, it is assumed that his body of work was largely autobiographical. Besides his fictional shorts and features, Eustache made numerous documentaries, many of them very personal, including several shot in his hometown of Pessac and a feature-length interview with his grandmother.

Eustache directed two narrative features. The first, The Mother and the Whore (La maman et la putain), is a three-hour-and-forty-minute rumination on love, relationships, men and women. The film’s central three-way romance plot focuses on Alexandre (Jean-Pierre Léaud), his girlfriend Marie (Bernadette Lafont) and the nurse he meets and falls in love with, Veronika (Françoise Lebrun).

Eustache’s second feature, Mes petites amoureuses (1974), was intentionally different from his debut. Shot in color 35mm by acclaimed cinematographer Nestor Almendros (as opposed to The Mother and the Whore's grainy black-and-white), the film also features significantly less dialogue and focuses on teenage characters in a rural setting.

[edit]

Remakes and Serial Works

Eustache admired the documentary qualities of early actuality films, and frequently cited the Lumiere Brothers as influences. He made two films about a religious parade in Pessac, both titled La Rosière de Pessac, in 1968 and 1979, and remade his short Une sale histoire twice. Regarding the tendency to re-examine in Eustache's work, the American film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote: "An obsessive-compulsive filmmaker and clearly a tormented one who wound up dying by his own hand, Eustache was clearly experimenting with his variations as well as goading viewers into examining their own reactions to them."

[edit]

Filmography



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