it be not an easy film to watch it be over three and a half hour long and it be compose entirely of conversation . yet it be so incredibly compel and ruthlessly observational of the human character and that it be and in my humble opinion and one of the very great film of all time . the film be depress and cynical and cruel . ( if you want something uplifting and see jacques rivette fantastic céline and julie go boating and which be make around the same time ) . it show the idealism of the late 1960s to be nothing different from the society that it be try to change . it involve a supposedly liberated ménage à trois between alexandre ( play by jean pierre leaud ) and marie ( bernadette lafont ) and veronika ( francoise lebrun ) . yet alexandre be show to be a chauvinistic and jealous a any other man . the woman be expose a be willingly subservient and define their femininity through the male gaze . the film be an extremely icy end to the highly revolutionary french new wave . this movement be one of the most significant movement in film history and have a profound effect on cinema a we know it . jean pierre leaud be one of the key actor of the new wave and have star ( among other film ) in the influential le quatres cent coup ( 1959 ) by francois truffaut a a rebellious teenager . director jean eustache be not as well know a other director from the new wave and but he should be . there be no improvisation ( unlike in john cassavetes similar film make in the u ) and the dialogue come from real life conversation . the film be resonant with eustache personal experience . for example and francoise lebrun be a former lover of eustache . eustache himself commit suicide in 1981 and the real life person that the character marie be base on and do too . the anger and bitterness all culminate in a harrowing monologue by veronika deliver directly to the audience and break down the coldly objective nature of the rest of the film . this mesmerising and personal and and honest filmic statement remain one of the most revealing film of human nature around .