Jane Birkin Movies

First-time director Carine Tardieu's gentle and evocative coming-of-ager La Tête de Maman concerns Lulu (Chloë Couloud), an adolescent girl whose mother (Karin Viard) sits perpetually on the brink of illness and radiates unhappiness; she is resolutely unhappy with her husband, unhappy with the present state of her life. Concerned about her mom's emotional condition, Lulu discovers an old photograph that suggests the source of her dissatisfaction: a love affair gone sour with a young man who abandoned her, several years before Lulu's birth. To win back her mother's "smile," Lulu sets out to locate her mom's old boyfriend - now a middle-aged veterinarian - and bring him back to her mother's side. She also discovers, over the course of this mission, that her mom is now suffering from a terminal illness and sits at death's door. The character of Lulu narrates throughout, and periodically defers, in the midst of dilemmas, to her heroine, the model-turned-actress Jane Birkin (who appears from time to time, playing herself). ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Chanteuse Jane Birkin pays homage to her former husband and musical collaborator, the late Serge Gainsbourg, with this special concert of his music, arranged in the manner of Northern African folk music. Recorded at Paris' Olympia Theatre in the spring of 2002, Jane Birkin: Arabesque includes the songs "La Chanson de Prévert," "L'Amour de Moi," "Ces Petits Riens," "Elisa," "Les Clés du Paradis," "Baby Alone in Babylone," "C'Est Comme Ca," and many more. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This French thriller begins with a flashback to a small village dance where a six-year-old girl is kidnapped and killed. Seventeen years later the murder remains unsolved. The girl's parents Caroline and Chris have gone on with separate lives Caroline remarried and had another daughter while Chris became an alcoholic. The two are thrown back together when each begin receiving strange messages that imply their daughter has returned from the dead for vengeance. They contact a police detective (the lover of Caroline's best friend) who finds the case intriguing and decides to reopen it. Unfortunately, as soon as he begins questioning the old suspects, people begin to die. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Two very different people become friends and partners in this nautical drama. Nikos (Stephen Rea) is a radio man working on a Greek freighter when he finds himself stranded in Hong Kong after the firm that owned his ship suddenly goes out of business. Nikos is already depressed over his recent breakup with his girlfriend, and this latest turn of events hardly makes him feel any better; he develops a dependence on opium as he works a variety of odd jobs trying to keep himself together while waiting for his ship to return to the sea. Li (Ling Chu) is a ten-year-old Chinese girl, cut off from her mother and father, who has a sampan and asks Nikos to help her get the boat ready for the water. Nikos doesn't much care for Li at first, but her youthful optimism and determination to succeed make an impression on him, and in time he leads her on a voyage to find the family she left behind years before. Director Marion Hansel's work on this film was honored with a Golden Palm nomination at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this fascinating and unconventional examination of the creative process, an artist near the end of his career finds new inspiration in a young model. Edouard Frenhofer (Michel Piccoli) is a famous and well-respected artist who lives in a comfortable estate in the French countryside. At the age of 60, Frenhofer considers his career as a painter to be over; he says he no longer feels any inspiration to create, and his last attempt at a major work, a nude study of his wife Liz (Jane Birkin) called "La Belle Noiseuse" (The Beautiful Nuisance), has sat unfinished for ten years. Just as Frenhofer has lost his enthusiasm for his art, he has also lost his passion for Liz; their relationship is polite and friendly, but without enthusiasm. When Frenhofer tells Nicolas (David Bursztein), his young protégé, that he no longer feels the desire to paint, Nicolas suggests that he needs a more inspiring subject, and he offers his girlfriend Marianne (Emmanuelle Béart) as a model. Frenhofer is taken with Marianne's beauty, and, with Liz's cool approval, he and Marianne spend several arduous sessions together, exchanging ideas and opinions as Frenhofer methodically attempts to create a final masterpiece. While La Belle Noiseuse runs 240 minutes, director Jacques Rivette also prepared an alternate version, La Belle Noiseuse - Divertimento, which runs 120 minutes, features a different framing sequence, and incorporates takes unused in the original cut. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Amnesty International produced this film, which features more than two dozen greats of French cinema making pleas for the lives of political prisoners around the world. Each filmmaker speaks passionately on behalf of an individual whose life has been warped by political intolerance, imprisonment, torture or murder, as the lives of those prisoners or sufferers are documented onscreen. A variety of directors contributed shorts with this theme, and the ways in which the appeals are dramatized differ markedly from one to the next. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

In this comedy drama, two lovers go on vacation to the fellow's summer home in southern France. Once there, the woman becomes quite jealous because she knows that many women have been at this house with him. She herself is not as experienced as he and secretly dreams of having many different lovers. Time passes and things become increasingly tense between them and they begin verbally attacking each other. Finally they make peace and love. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The personal tragedy of an alcoholic hemmed in by a domineering wife is the focus of this drama of hope lost and regained. Simon (Christophe Malavoy) is a solo violinist in an orchestra managed by his wife Laura (Jane Birkin). Haunted by specters of his own inadequacy, he loses his insecurities in drink, but that only results in rejection from his fellow musicians. They do not want him playing in the next major concert, which puts Laura in a bind. She fights for him to continue playing, not realizing that he may actually need time off. Simon begins to turn himself around when he meets a recovering alcoholic who introduces him to AA-style meetings and new friends. They understand his problem from their own perspective, yet he still has his increasingly belligerent wife and his future as a musician to handle. La Femme de ma vie was awarded Best First Film by the French Academy of Cinema. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

This French-Belgian co-production is set in a remote, squalid South African farm. Jane Birkin stars as Magda, the "proper" farmer's daughter who murders her father (Trevor Howard) when she learns of an affair between him and a local woman (Nadine Uwampa). By rights, Magda should leave for parts unknown at this point. Instead, she becomes obsessively involved in the lives of her father's mistress and her native husband (John Matshikiza). An inevitable second tragedy results. A multiple award winner, Dust was adapted by director Marion Hansel from In the Heart of the Country, a novel by J.M. Cotezee. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Much of the suspense is excised from this ordinary comic "whodunit" by revealing too much about the protagonists before their own characters betray themselves through their actions. Barbara (Jane Birkin) marries Julien (Sami Frey) a charming and sexy man. Barbara's old flame Paul (Gérard Jugnot) is highly suspicious of Julien. It seems Julien's previous two wives died under dubious circumstances and he collected a wad of insurance money as a result. Paul cannot ignore his misgivings, and so he follows Barbara and Julien to Morocco on their honeymoon, intent on preventing any harm to the woman he still loves. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

In this avant-garde drama, five main protagonists talk incessantly and occasionally scream at each other, while making it clear that verbal fights are going to lead to mayhem since they carry knives and guns to back up their angry outbursts. At the core of this emotional whirlpool are Carol (Maruschka Detmers) and Alma (Jane Birkin) whose relationship is under stress because of the others, especially Carol's husband (Andrew Birkin). By the time the dust settles along with old scores, the audience may feel too alienated to care. Laure Marsac received a 1984 Cesar award for Most Promising Young Actress for her unnamed, secondary role as a young girl in this film. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide