Poster

My Night at Maud's ()

Ma nuit chez Maud (original title)
Reference View | Change View
A devout Catholic man's rigid principles are challenged during a one-night stay with Maud, a divorced woman with an outsize personality.
Director:
Writer:
Stars:
Awards:
  • Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 4 nominations.
  • See more »
Reviews:

Photos and Videos

71 photos | 1 video

Cast verified as complete

Edit
...
Jean-Louis
...
Maud
...
Françoise
...
Vidal
...
Concert Violinist
Guy Léger ...
Priest
Anne Dubot ...
Blonde Friend
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Marie Becker ...
Marie (uncredited)
Marie-Claude Rauzier ...
Student (uncredited)

Directed by

Edit
Éric Rohmer

Written by

Edit
Éric Rohmer ... (writer)

Produced by

Edit
Pierre Cottrell ... producer
Barbet Schroeder ... producer

Cinematography by

Edit
Néstor Almendros

Editing by

Edit
Cécile Decugis

Editorial Department

Edit
Christine Lecouvette ... assistant editor

Production Design by

Edit
Nicole Rachline

Production Management

Edit
Alfred de Graff ... production manager

Sound Department

Edit
Jacques Maumont ... sound
Jean-Pierre Ruh ... sound
Alain Sempé ... sound assistant

Camera and Electrical Department

Edit
Jean-Claude Gasché ... assistant camera
Emmanuel Machuel ... camera operator
Philippe Rousselot ... assistant camera

Additional Crew

Edit
Pierre Grimberg ... production assistant
Eymeric Jorat ... restorator
Crew believed to be complete

Production Companies

Edit

Distributors

Edit

Special Effects

Edit

Other Companies

Edit

Storyline

Edit
Plot Summary

34-year-old engineer Jean-Louis has just started a new job in Clermont. He lives a relatively solitary life not knowing anyone in town except his work colleagues, and he has made a conscious decision that they should not become his de facto friends just because they work together. He also chooses not to socialize because of his situation and needing to make the long daily commute to/from Ceyrat, where he currently lives. He has had his fair share of women during his adult life and now chooses to adhere most closely to his Catholic beliefs in approaching romantic and sexual relationships with women with the sole goal of love and marriage. He keeps seeing a pretty blonde at Mass on Sunday mornings and without knowing her or even talking to her, he believes that this woman is destined to be his wife. He has been reading the writings of Blaise Pascal and finding the mixture of mathematics and Catholicism just what he needs to be reading and applying to his life. One day just before Christmas, he runs into Vidal, an old college friend he hasn't seen in 14 years, now a Philosophy professor at the college. In the course of getting reacquainted over the next couple of days, Vidal invites Jean-Louis over to his friend Maud's apartment the day after Christmas. Maud is a recently-divorced pediatrician, the mother of young-adolescent daughter Marie. Much of Jean-Louis, Vidal, and Maud's discussion that evening uses Pascal as a jumping-off point, veering into his philosophies in relation to sex and love; Vidal and Maud, being atheists, have a different view than Jean-Louis. This night, which Jean-Louis learns was not by accident on Vidal's part, has the potential to reshape his life as he would have to admit his attraction to Maud, who is not the theoretical of the perfect mate for him. If he does stay true to his thoughts of the blonde, he could find that a happily-ever-after with her is not a guarantee, and she might have her own baggage. Written by Huggo

Plot Keywords
Genres
Parents Guide View content advisory »
Certification

Additional Details

Edit
Also Known As
  • Six contes moraux III: Ma nuit chez Maud (France)
  • Six Moral Tales III: My Night at Maud's (World-wide, English title)
  • My Night at Maud's (World-wide, English title)
  • My Night at Maud's (United States)
  • My Night at Maud's (Canada, English title)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 110 min
Official Sites
Country
Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Did You Know?

Edit
Trivia Jean-Louis Trintignant's character is never called by name in the entire film. He is shown in credits as "Jean-Louis." See more »
Goofs When Jean-Louis Trintignant accepts to climb into bed with Françoise Fabian, he motions for her to pass him the blanket, extending his right hand holding a lit cigarette. The next shot from the side shows him grasping the blanket with a cigarette-free right hand. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in The 82nd Annual Academy Awards (2010). See more »
Quotes Jean-Louis: Are you still a Marxist?
Vidal: Absolutely. For a Communist, Pascal's wager is very relevant today. Personally, I very much doubt that history has any meaning. Yet I wager that it has, so I'm in a Pascalian situation. Hypothesis A: Society and politics are meaningless. Hypothesis B: History has meaning. I'm not at all sure B is more likely to be true than A. More likely the reverse. Let's even suppose B has a 10% chance of being true and A has 80%. Nevertheless I have no choice but to opt for B, because only the hypothesis that history has meaning allows me to go on living. Suppose I bet on A, and B was true, despite the lesser odds. I'd have thrown away my life. So I must choose B to justify my life and actions. There's an 80% chance I'm wrong but that doesn't matter.
Jean-Louis: Mathematical hope. Potential gain divided by probability. With your hypothesis B, though the probability is slight, the possible gain is infinite. In your case, a meaning to life. In Pascal's, eternal salvation.
Vidal: It was Gorky, Lenin or maybe Mayakovsky who said about the Russian revolution that the situation forced them to choose the one chance in a thousand. Because hope became infinitely greater if you took that chance than if you didn't take it.
See more »
Getting Started | Contributor Zone »

Contribute to This Page


Clear your history

Recently Viewed