Luc Moullet's BRIGITTE AND BRIGITTE (1966) + THE SMUGGLERS (1967)
As part of our retrospective, we present a double feature of Moullet's earliest features in new 4K restorations, both underseen absurdist classics of the French New Wave.
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Sep 13, 2025, 3:00 PM
Brain Dead Studios, 611 N Fairfax Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036, USA
Brigitte and Brigitte
directed by Luc Moullet
1966, France, 76m, DCP
Brand-new 4K restoration! Screening as part of Luc Moullet: Hardly Working, a Mezzanine retrospective.
doors: 2:30pm
film: 3pm
“Luc Moullet’s shaggy-dog debut [feature] —hailed by Jean-Luc Godard as ‘revolutionary’—is an exemplary work of the Nouvelle Vague at the crest of its influence and renown. Two girls with the same name (Françoise Vatel and Colette Descombes) become roommates after separately arriving in Paris to attend university, and although they hail from different regions in France, the fads and trends of their day have shaped them similarly. An episodic delight suffused with strong early indications of Moullet’s wit, charm, and sense of the place of the absurd within the everyday, Brigitte et Brigitte also features memorable performances from Moullet’s New Wave cohort Claude Chabrol, Éric Rohmer, and a young André Téchiné, and as well as the legendary Samuel Fuller, himself a crucial inspiration for the Cahiers du cinéma contingent.” -Film at Lincoln Center
Followed by:
The Smugglers (Les contrebandières)
directed by Luc Moullet
1967, France, 80m, DCP
“A truly singular object that is both a loving spoof of Hollywood-style action thrillers and a sociological send-up of the burgeoning student movement, The Smugglers follows two women (Françoise Vatel and Monique Thiriet) who work on the French side of the border in the Southern Alps running goods (and people). When the two women discover that they’re both romantically involved with the same man, a delirious threeway chase ensues that will find our heroines (and their two-timing third) running afoul of state officials and underworld figures alike. Also notable for inaugurating Luc Moullet’s career-spanning interest in landscape, not so much as background but rather as still another character in the farce we call ‘life’.” -Film at Lincoln Center
Total runtime: 155m