Jane B. for Agnes V. (1988)

"I'll look at you, but not at the camera. It could be a trap," whispers Jane Birkin shyly into Agnès Varda's ear at the start of JANE B. PAR AGNES V. The director of CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 and ... See full summary »

Director:

Agnès Varda

Writer:

Agnès Varda

Stars:

Jane Birkin, Jean-Pierre Léaud, Philippe Léotard

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jane Birkin	...	Calamity Jane / Claude Jade / Joan Arc
Jean-Pierre Léaud	...	L'amoureux colérique
Philippe Léotard	...	Le peintre / Murderer
Farid Chopel	...	Le colonial
Alain Souchon	...	Le lecteur de Verlaine
Serge Gainsbourg	...	Self
Laura Betti	...	Lardy
Monique Godard	...	La sous-maîtresse
Ian Marshall	...	L'huissier
Les enfants Tooke	...	Les pauvres de Dickens
Charlotte Gainsbourg	...	La fille de J.
Mathieu Demy	...	Le fils de A.
James Millard	...	Tarzan
Pascale Torsat	...	Le modèle du Titien
Henri Piednoir	...	Le boulanger

Storyline

"I'll look at you, but not at the camera. It could be a trap," whispers Jane Birkin shyly into Agnès Varda's ear at the start of JANE B. PAR AGNES V. The director of CLEO FROM 5 TO 7 and VAGABOND once again paints a portrait of a woman, this time in a marvelously Expressionistic way. "It's like an imaginary bio-pic," says Varda. Jane, of course, is the famed singer ("Je t'aime ... Moi non plus"), actress (BLOW UP), fashion icon (the Hermes Birkin bag) and longtime muse to Serge Gainsbourg. As Varda implies, JANE B. PAR AGNÈS V. abandons the traditional bio-pic format, favoring instead a freewheeling mix of gorgeous and unexpected fantasy sequences. In each, Jane inhabits a new character, playing a cat & mouse game with Varda as they explore the role of the Muse and the Artist, all the while showcasing the multifaceted nature of Birkin's talent. "I'd like to be filmed as if I were transparent, anonymous, like everyone else," says Birkin. But her wish to be a "famous nobody" is ...

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Plot Keywords:

female nudity | full frontal female nudity | f rated | family photo | singing | 

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Genres:

Biography | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Did You Know?

Connections

Features Le petit amour (1988)

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Soundtracks

Le moi et le je
Written by Serge Gainsbourg
Melody Nelson Publishing
avec l'aimable autorisation de Phonogram
et merci à Philippe Lerichomme

User Reviews

A fun experiment full of complexities

I wish so many more women get this kind of fantastic, marvelous but also gentle and kind experimentation about themselves and their complexities that Agnes Varda gave Jane Birkin. The film is a mix of interviews (but I hesitate to call them interviews, since they aren't the conventional, still, serious kind that the word conjures) and different sketches inspired from a painting, a sentence uttered, a rough script drafted by Jane, and many other things that show the different sides and aspirations of a woman and an actress. Unlike other directors though, Agnes never makes it feel pretentious and never disrespects the subject. She takes great care and has fun with the audience in the process.

Details

Country:

France

Language:

French

Release Date:

2 March 1988 (France)

Also Known As:

Jane B. for Agnes V.

Filming Locations:

Rue Daguerre, Paris, France

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ciné Tamaris, La Sept Cinéma

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1