Je t'aime moi non plus (1976)

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

A disappointing waste of time and talent

We had hoped that Serge Gainsbourg's most well-known film would demonstrate his interesting - if a bit twisted - perspective and style. Unfortunately, by the time "Je t'aime moi non plus" was made, Serge had become an "old fart", to borrow a recurring line from the movie. Instead of the inventive, hip Serge of the 'sixties, pulling musical influences from around the globe and spicing them up with naughty references, he had become the jaded fatalist, using shock value out of habit rather than effect. It would also appear that he had been a bit too influenced by Godard's "Weekend" for his own good. Long tracking shots of the protagonist's truck passing aimlessly through a barren landscape littered with wrecked cars are employed at least four times. What this film and its actors really needed were a plot and some actual dialogue. Birkin, Dallesandro and the rest of the cast do credible jobs with what they've been given to work with, but their doomed love triangle is bog-standard 1950s melodrama, with a gay twist. Absolutely wasted here is Gerard Depardieu, who turns in an awkward and unconvincing cameo as a homosexual beastialist. Thankfully, Gainsbourg still had talent in him as a composer, and the film benefits from his soundtrack. I suspect he was not encouraged to attempt more directorial efforts, as after "Je t'aime..." he only did vanity films.