I, You, He, She (1976) Je, tu, il, elle (original title)

Director:

Chantal Akerman

Writers:

Chantal Akerman
Eric De Kuyper
(more)

Release Date:

27 December 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

'Je' is a girl voluntarily lock up in a room. 'Tu' is the script. 'Il' is a lorry driver. 'Elle' is the girlfriend.

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian | Masturbation | Lesbian Sex | Written And Directed By Cast Member | Lesbianism

Cast

Chantal Akerman	...	Julie
Niels Arestrup	...	Truck-driver
Claire Wauthion	...	Girlfriend

Directed by
Chantal Akerman

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Chantal Akerman
Eric De Kuyper
Paul Paquay

Produced by
Chantal Akerman	....	producer

Cinematography by
Bénédicte Delesalle
Renelde Dupont
Charlotte Szlovak

Film Editing by
Luc Fréché
Geneviève Luciani

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Paul Arias	....	assistant director

Art Department
Michel Fradier	....	props

Sound Department
Marc Lobet	....	sound effects
Alain Pierre	....	sound effects
Gérard Rousseau	....	sound re-recording mixer
Samy Szlingerbaum	....	sound

Other crew
Nicole Cérès	....	collaborator
Marc Maes	....	collaborator
Marc Mopty	....	collaborator
Emile Poppe	....	collaborator

Production Companies

• French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (support)
• Paradise Films

Distributors

• Other Cinema (????) (UK) (theatrical)
• World Artists (1985) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Carlotta Films (2007) (France) (DVD)
• CineArt Releasing (2007) (USA) (DVD) (5 DVDs : Chantal Akerman -The Seventies)
• Eclipse from the Criterion Collection (2010) (USA) (DVD)
• World Artists Home Video (1993) (USA) (VHS)
• World Artists Home Video (1998) (Japan) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Camions Berliet, Les  thanks

Also Known As:

"Je, tu, il, elle" - France (original title)

Runtime:

Spain:90 min | USA:90 min | Belgium:86 min

Country:

France | Belgium

Language:

French

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Netherlands:18 (orginal rating)

Company:

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Quotes:

Julie:I lay down on my mattress, then got up to undress. I lay down again, naked.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema (2006)

Painfully Naked Honesty in Examination of Identity and Sexuality

Some use film-making as a tool to reflect themselves and search their identities. With her first important feature, Je, tu, il, elle, Chantal Akerman relays this tradition, which has been established and inherited mostly by generations of female filmmakers, from Maya Deren to Rose Troche and Jennie Livingston. Like Deren, Akerman combines a traditional narrative and surrealistic ingredients, but Akerman's surrealism is more true-to-life than Deren's, as seen in a sugar-only diet of "Je" or a wrestling-like foreplay between "Je" and "Elle." Painfully naked honesty in these scenes shows how seriously Akerman is in need of examining her identity and sexuality.

(The surface of the film extremely resembles Stranger Than Paradise by Jim Jarmusch, completed in 1983; the two films share the three-episode plot and the B/W medium shots by the fixed camera without panning/tilting/dollying. But this may be irrelevant for viewing this Akerman film.)