Two Films by Jean Eustache

Introduction: Esther Buss
Supporting film: La soirée France 1963 fragment digital file silent 8 min.

Le père Noël a les yeux bleus

The second part of Jean Eustache’s autobiographical trilogy – which also includes LA MAMAN ET LA PUTAIN andMES PETITES AMOUREUSES – is woven together from a series of everyday vignettes set in the French countryside that blend comedy and melancholy: an unemployed young man named Daniel (Jean-Pierre Léaud), wants to buy a fashionable duffle coat for the winter, but lacks the money to do so. Thanks to a job as Father Christmas, which involves passers-by having their photo taken with him in front of a department store, he gets tantalizingly close to being able to afford the coat as well as to the girls themselves. (hjf)

Du côté de Robinson

Two young men approach a young woman on her way to meet a friend at a dance hall. The two of them accompany her, but once inside it soon becomes clear that they either can’t dance or are too shy to do so, while the woman dances several times with an older gentleman who doesn’t stop asking her. Disappointed and offended, they decide to take revenge. Eustache’s debut is inspired by the early films of the Nouvelle Vague, but is set in a working-class milieu. Shot on 16mm film with non-professional actors in the streets of Paris, the film is impressively direct and fresh. The accompanying accordion music, the comedic treatment of the visit to the dance hall and the cheeky tone make it the most cheerful film Eustache ever made. (hjf)