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Jean-Louis Trintignant, Francoise Fabian, Antoine Vitez, Marie-Christine Barrault, Anne Dubot ... see more see more... , Marie Becker , Leonid Kogan , Guy Leger , Marie-Claude Rauzier

The "my" in My Night At Maud's belongs to the protagonist played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, a Catholic engineer whose struggle with his faith is renewed when he falls instantly in love with a woman he... read more read more...'s never met (Marie-Christine Barrault) while attending mass. A chance meeting with an amoral old friend (Antoine Vitez) the same night places him in a potentially compromising situation when he's forced to spend the night with Vitez's alluring acquaintance Maude (Françoise Fabian), a sophisticated woman who challenges Trintignant's belief through intellectual and fleshly means. ~ Keith Phipps, Rovi

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4,039 ratings

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94% liked it

16 critics

PG, 1 hr. 51 min.

Directed by: Eric Rohmer

Release Date: March 22, 1970

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DVD Release Date: August 15, 2006

Stats: 164 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (164)

  • pier007
    November 2, 2011
    pier007
    There are nights and conversations we remember more than whole years. To Jean-Louis, finding a woman like Maud, by pure chance, was a miracle. The miracle of coming clean, stripping his soul, putting aside morals that were detouring him from finding not a perfect match to marry, ... read morebut another real, flawed human being to start a romance for as long as it takes. The night he spend with Maud, made him gain enough courage to approach the girl he desired. Maybe he could have had something with Maud, if circumstances would allowed him, because passion, admiration and understanding, they had already found all that in each other.
  • rubystevens
    March 19, 2011
    rubystevens
    for two hours of philosophical discussions between people trying not to admit they want to have sex with each other this was pretty damn good
  • bottcorecords1
    January 22, 2010
    bottcorecords1
    "Pascal's Wager" suggests that if one must bet on the existence of God, it's better to err on the side that He does exist rather than He doesn't. If God exists and you don't believe in Him, you gain nothing and lose everything. If God doesn't exist and you believe in Him, you g... read moreain nothing and lose nothing. But, if God does exist, you gain everything and lose nothing. Pascal believed in hedging your bets towards the eternal afterlife. Pascal and christianity (catholicism in particular) are discussed heavily in "Ma nuit chez Maud" (My Night with Maud), but the application of Pascal's Wager in one's personal life is what the film's true purpose is. My Night at Maud's is one of director Eric Rohmer's "six moral tales" film series and centers around a 30-something man named Jean-Louis. Jean-Louis seems to live an unfulfilling life, sitting around his apartment, reading math books and attending church. At sunday mass, he sits uninspired, until a beautiful blonde sitting in the pew across from him catches his eye. She fails to notice him though, and after church service, he attempts to follow her home. He makes a pledge to himself that he will someday marry that girl. Meanwhile, he comes across Vidal, an old friend who he hasn't seen in 14 years (they meet in a restaurant that neither one frequents, and in an acute observation, the old friend tells him that since their daily paths never cross, they could only meet when diverging from them), and the two immediately strike up a conversation about Pascal. The atheist/communist Vidal seems fascinated by Jean-Louis' devote christianity, and (seemingly) unrelatedly invites him up to his friend Maud's house for a social visit. Maud is a divorced single mother who's both intellectual and openly honest. She (along with Vidal) bluntly direct the evening's conversation towards sex and it's compatibility with Jean-Louis' faith. Jean-Louis hedges his bets in love, just as he does with his faith. Rather than risk missing out on eternal reward, he lives a bland life, never engaging in anything extraneous, and rather than risk his dream of a perfect marriage, he turns his back on women who don't meet his strict guidelines. He is deeply fascinated by Maud, by her bluntness, her openness, her zest for life. But in the end, she's just a passing flirtation in his eyes, she's not catholic, she's divorced. He instead pursues the beautiful blonde from the church, the moral absolute. To him, the passion is mechanical, he woos her with the exact same words he uses on Maud the day before. The blonde reciprocates with equally mechanical romantic words. The tragedy by the end of the story is that, too late, Jean-Louis learns that all his vaunted standards don't matter very much, and love just can't be plotted out like a book. In the end he turns down the great adventure of love for the sure thing, and while he receives his great reward, it comes at the expense of knowledge in what he's lost out on.
  • hypathio7
    October 25, 2011
    hypathio7
    My first Eric Rohmer film. The Cinematheque at the Cleveland Institute of Art showed a film print of this from Europe. The movie takes its time showing the simple life led by Jean-Louis (Trintignant) in 60's France. He browses for books at a bookshop. He drives around the narrow ... read morestreets in his compact car. He attends mass where he first sees Francoise (Barrault). He tries to invent ways to casually run into her. Is he just looking for a one night stand, or from this "love-at-first-sight" thing do we believe that he really wants a more long term relationship? His motivations early on are mysterious. Jean-Louis is interrupted from his norm by a chance meeting with an old college buddy, Vidal (Vitez). Vidal knows this recently divorced woman, Maud (Fabian), who he is having dinner with that evening (just as friends) and he invites Jean-Louis along. Maud is a modern woman. She is divorced at a time when that was still not common. She has a daughter, does not consider herself religious and flirts shamelessly with Jean-Louis. The three adults talk on and on about philosophy, religion and relationships. It goes on a bit too long, but for the most part it kept me interested. Jean-Louis admits only a little personal information. Like Maud he doesn't really believe in all the dogmas of the church, but he cannot bring himself to give up his Catholicism all together. He also reveals that he prefers blondes (Francoise) to brunettes (Maud) and though he is talked into staying the night he tries to remain a gentleman. It is difficult for him. He sees both Francoise and Maud again. He gets more serious with one and we are treated to a surprise coincidence between the women at the end. The performances are natural in many cases as if the audience is a fly on the wall.
  • smootysveen
    September 29, 2008
    smootysveen
    I get a little dizzy counting the love triangles in this one.
  • TonyPolito
    March 24, 2011
    TonyPolito
    Think twice before popping this can of tuna. In "Night Moves" (1975) Gene Hackman says "Rohmer's films are like watching paint dry." You may well agree.

    Here's the 100% spoiler lowdown:

    Trintignant goes to Mass. Trintignant runs into long-lost friend. Trintignant takes friend... read more to Christmas Eve Mass. Trintignant and friend dine in apartment of gorgeous brunette divorcee Maud (Fabian), who happens to be the friend's major booty call. Dinner talk is a lengthy, snobby, impenetrable, utterly pretentious French bourgeois discussion about religious philosophy, dwelling on Pascal. (Brush-up in advance.) Trintignant drolls on about his own moral, religious nature, explaining it still allows him to skirt-chase.

    Now, at minute 44, things barely get interesting. Maud slips into a t-shirt (cheeks-out), climbs into her bed that conveniently faces right next to her living-room chairs, starts rolling around in her sheets, then drops words like "exhibitionism" and "seduction" into conversation. Friend, recognizing he's being dealt-out of the bedding, skips. While Maud's sprawled across the bed leering ''open for business," Trintignant monologues yet ANOTHER 20 minutes about his beliefs regarding religion and true love. Maud begs him throughout, in various provocative ways, to just STFU and take her.

    He never does man-up to the noble cause. Accordingly, she calls him "child" and "idiot" for it right into his face. These are the most honest lines of dialogue in the film.

    Next morning, he makes a wishy-washy move on Maud, but Maud, far too pro, doesn't do wishy-washies.

    Now it's minute 75.

    Trintignant and Maud talk it up all that day. Trintignant picks up a co-ed blonde parishioner on the street. They marry. Five years later, Trintignant discovers his blonde wife was once Maud's lover, whom Maud dumped cold.

    Fin.

    The director labeled this film a "moral tale." I guess the moral is "Don't run with women outside of church because they're too fast for you."

    Excellent B&W Criterion restoration. Droll extras include even more pretentious French talking heads, talking about--guess what--Pascal.

    RECOMMENDATION: Yuck.

View All Ma Nuit chez Maud (My Night at Maud's ) (My Night with Maud) Reviews

Critic Reviews

Vincent Canby
May 20, 2003
Vincent Canby, New York Times

The film is beautifully played, that is, as written, which is almost as if it were music. Full Review

Dave Kehr
January 1, 2000
Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

Eric Rohmer's droll and delicate comedy of language. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
April 15, 2011
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

The third (and best) of Eric Rohmer's Six Moral Fables, for which he received his only Oscar nomination. Full Review

Peter Bradshaw
July 22, 2010
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

A date movie with a touch of class. Full Review

Tim Robey
July 22, 2010
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph

As a canvas for Rohmer's ideas, it's crucial in making them feel as crisply distilled and newly debatable as the day they were aired. Full Review

Fernando F. Croce
September 4, 2009
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion

Droll, graceful, and implacably cutting Full Review

Christopher Null
August 12, 2006
Christopher Null, Filmcritic.com

Rohmer is fixated on sex to the point where he had to make six movies about it? Full Review

Carol Cling
June 30, 2006
Carol Cling, Las Vegas Review-Journal

Most challenging - and therefore least accessible - of Rohmer's trademark Moral Tales.

Tom Milne
February 9, 2006
Tom Milne, Time Out

Still one of Rohmer's best films. Full Review

May 24, 2003
Film4

Still fresh, provocative and irresistible. Full Review

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