Je t'aime moi non plus (1976)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Serge Gainsbourg

Writer:

Serge Gainsbourg (written by)

Release Date:

10 March 1976 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

The petite waitress Johnny works and lives in a truck-stop, where she's lonely and longs for love. She...

Plot Keywords:

Garbage | Truck | Pig | Gas Station | Homosexual

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Jane Birkin	...	Johnny
Joe Dallesandro	...	Krassky
Hugues Quester	...	Padovan
Reinhard Kolldehoff	...	Boris (as René Kolldehoff)
Gérard Depardieu	...	Man on horse
Jimmy Davis	...	Moïse (as Jimmy 'Lover Man' Davis)
Maïté Nahyr
Liliane Rovère
Gillian Gill
Josiane Lévêque
Doris Thomas
Raoul Delfosse
Michel Blanc	...	Un ouvrier
Alain David
Claudia Butenuth

Also Known As:

I Love You, I Don't (UK) (USA)

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Président Films

Trivia:

The film was rejected for UK cinema in 1976 by the BBFC. It was eventually passed fully uncut for video in 1993.

Soundtrack:

Je t'aime,moi non plus

Worth seeing if you know what to expect

A young elfin-looking waitress (Jane Birkin) who works at a sleazy diner of the middle of nowhere France falls in love with a garbage man (Joe Dallesandro) who everyone warns her is gay. She pursues the relationship, but things don't work out too well. He only likes to have sex in a very uncomfortable manner for her, and her pained cries get them thrown out of several motels and apartments. She also has to deal with the jealously of her lover's male "friend"/co-worker, and with her own domineering, disgusting, and flatulent older boss.

French films and Hollywood films are very different, but one thing they have in common is the tendency to have incredibly attractive actors unconvincingly slumming in unglamorous roles. Bisexual hustler/actor Joe Dallesandro (who was the "Little Joe" immortalized in Lou Reed's song "Walk on the Wild Side") is probably the best-looking garbageman in the history of garbage. And Jane Birkin, the real-life wife/lover of musician Serg Gainsboug, the director of this (the couple duet-ed on a hit pop song "Je'Taime Moi Non Plus" from which this movie takes title), is a stunning beauty who would NEVER be reduced to slinging hash in a crappy diner. The movie seems to be trying to trade on the androgyny of the couple. Birkin's character has a short haircut and is nicknamed "Johnny". But despite her A-cup breasts NOBODY is going to mistake Birkin for a boy (at least with her clothes off). And Dallesandro may be pretty, but he's much more of a muscular stud than an effeminate pretty boy (Ironically, the androgynous "unisex sex" thing was done much better fifteen years later in the "Cement Garden", which was directed by Jane's brother Andrew Birkin and featured the couple's grown daughter Charlotte Gainsbourg).

This film is kind of interesting in that, despite the perpetual nudity by the two uber-attractive leads, it doesn't go for the easy romantic or erotic angle (unless you consider sodomy in the back of a garbage truck erotic or romantic). In some ways it's a fairly realistic and downbeat film. It's actually kind of like a Catherine Breillat film (well, maybe it's not quite THAT downbeat). Gerard Depardieu also shows in a small role as a homophobic thug. And, of course, the music is quite good. This might be worth seeing if you know what to expect.