In this short film from Jean Eustache, unavailable in the US on video (I saw it at a Eustache retrospective), a group of friends sit down and, with little prelude, listen to their friend (Michel Lonsdale) recite a story about when, as a young man, he discovered a peephole in the ladies toilet at a small cafe. He describes the etiquette surrounding this peephole for the resident perverts in the cafe, and relates how viewing female vaginas soon became his sole obsession, and, finally, how he overcame this obsession. His friends listen, discuss, and the movie ends.
At least, the scripted portion does. Then we see the same story, with nearly identical dialogue, related by Jean Noel-Picq, for real. This second monologue is actually a documentary filming: the first monologue was actually filmed second, with professional actors this time. Naturally, hearing the exact same story twice in a row takes much of the edge off. At first, it's a hilarious, oddly compelling story. The second time, we are subjected to it because, according to the introduction to the screening, Eustache wants to show that there's no such thing as objective truth. Fine...but that's not exactly a new idea. By the end of this little experiment, we feel as if we have seen an overly obvious point beaten into our heads. And a bit dazed from it all. A curious short, nonetheless (please, PLEASE attend a Eustache retrospective if you're lucky enough to get one in your town).
