Jane Birkin Movies
One of the more pleasing by-products of the "Swinging Sixties," British stage actress Jane Birkin made a huge international impression in 1966 as one of the two nude models (she was the blonde) in Antonioni's existential feature film Blow-Up. Since that time, Birkin has often as not appeared in bisexual or androgynous film roles; in Roger Vadim's Don Juan 73 (1973), she was cast as Brigitte Bardot's lover. In the 1970s, she launched a second career as a popular recording artist, scoring a worldwide hit with "Je T'aime, Moi Non Plus." She created a sensation of Blow-Up dimensions in 1987 when, as star and screenwriter of director Agnès Varda's Kung Fu Master, she played a 40-year-old woman carrying on a torrid affair with a 15-year-old boy. The following year, Varda expressed her admiration for Birkin with the feature-length documentary Jane B. par Agnes V. Rightly regarded by European cinephiles as one of filmdom's most versatile actresses, Birkin has had trouble shaking her earlier sex-kitten image with English-speaking audiences; only her work in 1985's Dust and 1990's Daddy Nostalgie has earned the unqualified praise of American critics. Once married to composer John Barry, Birkin then became the wife of French director Jacques Doillon. Jane Birkin is also the mother of actress Charlotte Gainsbourg, star of the 1996 remake of Jane Eyre; Charlotte's father is composer/director Serge Gainsbourg. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide- 1985
Andy Warhol "graduate" Paul Morrissey surprised his followers with his sensitive direction of the 1985 costume drama Beethoven's Nephew (Le Neveu de Beethoven) The eponymous character, Karl Beethoven (Dietmar Prinz), is snatched from his mother's home by egomaniacal composer Ludwig Van Beethoven (Wolfgang Reichmann). It is Beethoven's contention that nephew Karl is in the clutches of a "demon" (his mother!), and that only by taking charge of Karl himself can the composer tap the boy's inherent musical genius. Ultimately Karl rebels against Beethoven's obsessiveness by developing a relationship with a beautiful actress (Nathalie Baye). As Karl's independence grows, Beethoven's health declines, possibly because of the psychological ramifications of watching his surrogate son grow away from him. Adapted by Morrissey and Mathieu Carriere from a novel by Luigi Magnani, Beethoven's Nephew was released in the US nearly two years after its French premiere. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wolfgang Reichmann, Dietmar Prinz, (more)
- 1984
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
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Gérard Jugnot, (more)
- 1984
The avant-garde founder of French New Wave Jacques Rivette, offers an on-going treatise of film versus theater in this basically non-story about two actresses and a director, or from another perspective, a play and a film. In the opening scenario, a couple come out of a bathroom and are surprised by a group of people. It turns out that the people are the audience watching a play performed in a private home. Among the spectators is Clément (Jean-Pierre Kalfon) a director who invites two actresses (Jane Birkin and Geraldine Chaplin) to his home for the following Saturday, to work on a performance. Clément was having an affair with Béatrice (Isabelle Linnartz) who has apparently disappeared. A magician named Paul (André Dussolier) is his current lover and lives in Clément's home. After the actresses arrive, they find themselves influenced by Paul's magic and start to see their future, while the story they are enacting stays fairly close to Clément's own life. After many rehearsals over one week's time, the play is performed while actual changes happen in the corresponding characters in Clément's life -- until the play within a play ends in an interesting, controversial, yet logical manner. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Geraldine Chaplin, (more)
- 1984
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
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Philippe Léotard, (more)
- 1983
This routine farce is about a lowly police inspector who falls for a sophisticated woman, unaware that she is involved in fencing stolen art. He pursues her with undying diligence until they finally get together -- but by that time they are on the wrong side of the law and in trouble. As usual with director Patrice Leconte, Michel Blanc plays the lead. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Michel Blanc, (more)
- 1983
In this plodding drama about a man searching for his friend's wronged lover, there is neither high action nor high suspense to keep -- or even reach -- a quick-paced storyline. A shallow womanizer (Jean Rochefort) plays the trumpet in an orchestra conducted by his steady and stable friend (Philippe Noiret). One day a woman bursts into the womanizer's dressing room and tries to shoot him down for what he did to her sister. As he goes into hiding for his own safety, he asks the orchestra leader to find out who he wronged, and try to help him correct the problem. The rest of the film concerns that search, and its resolution. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Philippe Noiret, Jean Rochefort, (more)
Peter Ustinov makes his second appearance as Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in this adaptation of the popular Agatha Christie mystery. When noted stage star Arlena Marshall (Diana Rigg) is found murdered while visiting a posh island resort, Poirot is called upon to find the culprit, but given Marshall's shrewish personality and propensity for making enemies, the question isn't "Who wanted to see her dead?" but "Who didn't?" The suspects include Rex Brewster (Roddy McDowall), a writer penning a biography of Arlena that the actress tried to stop; Odell and Myra Gardener (James Mason and Sylvia Miles), theatrical producers who were financially shafted when Arlena refused to appear in a show; Arlena's husband, Kenneth (Denis Quilley); Kenneth's lover, Daphne (Maggie Smith); Patrick Redfern (Nicholas Clay), who was having an affair with Arlena; and Christine (Jane Birkin), Nicholas' wife. Ustinov would play Poirot again three years later in the made-for-TV feature Thirteen at Dinner. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, (more)
- 1982
Based on a mystery novel by Leo Malet, lead character Detective Burma (comic Michel Serrault) has luxurious office digs - shared with his oddball cat - but he himself is neither as sophisticated or as quick-witted as Malet's literary creation. Director Jean-Luc Miesch (29 years old), has missed that aspect of Malet's detective in his own interpretation of a zany, off-the-wall Nestor Burma. Burma's newest case involves corruption in the drug-dealing underworld of the punk rockers, especially rock star Boc Craddock (played by Alain Bashung, the French rock singer). In order to go undercover to obtain information, Burma has to impersonate an over-the-hill punk rock enthusiast, with just enough absurdity to sparkle in contrast with the rest of the action. If his ploy works and the fates are with him, perhaps he will solve his case after all. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Serrault, Jane Birkin, (more)
- 1981
Anne (Jane Birkin) is a seriously disturbed young woman who is driven to leave her husband for awhile and go home to her parents in the countryside. Once there, she comes up against many of the primal causes of her own imbalanced mind. Her father is in an indecisive relationship with both his wife (Natasha Parry) and his mistress (Eva Rensi), and does not seem a pillar of stability himself. When Anne confronts her father, their relationship degenerates, leaving little promise for the future. Viewers should take note that the film deals with social taboos, such as incest. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Michel Piccoli, (more)
- 1981
The strange life of Austrian painter Egon Schiele, one of the fathers of expressionism, is chronicled in this dramatic biography. He began his career during his stint as a soldier in WWI. He gained notoriety for his pornographic nudes and was eventually arrested for creating them. At the same time, his first love dies, and his next lover dumps him. His paintings finally become popular at the war's end. Unfortunately, he dies of a strange disease before he can enjoy his success. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mathieu Carrière, Jane Birkin, (more)
- 1981
- R
In this tender and sentimental comedy, Ben (Victor Lanoux), a Parisian Jew, copes with the dramas in his everyday life against the background of his family's survival of the Holocaust. Things between him and his wife are not any too easy, and on top of it, he has to heed his father's concerns, even though he lives in Israel now. His grandfather, who lives in the south of France, is a very old man, but is still a romantic obsessed with women. These tensions come to the fore when the family gathers to celebrate the patriarch's 90th birthday. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Victor Lanoux, Jane Birkin, (more)
- 1979
In this comedy, a conservative schoolteacher encounters a foul-mouthed boy and a kind prostitute, and in each case, he is shocked. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, José Luis Lopez Vasquez, (more)
- 1979
Olga (Jane Birkin) is a bored housewife who is frequently left alone by her husband as he attends to business ventures on the road. She offers herself to Pierre (Jean-Louis Trintignant), but her husband's friend spurns her advances. Olga then makes herself available to Claude (Jean-Luc Bidneau), but the man is too consumed with poverty and his chronic unemployment to make a move. A shy restaurant employee finds Olga attractive, but he is too reluctant to pursue her. Olga finally decides that she may be better off living alone in this downbeat drama. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jane Birkin, (more)
Peter Ustinov began his long association with the Hercule Poirot character of murder mystery novelist Agatha Christie with this lavish but financially disappointing follow-up to the popular Murder on the Orient Express (1974). During a luxurious pleasure cruise down the Nile aboard a lavish vessel populated with wealthy passengers, widely despised heiress and home wrecker Linnet Ridgeway (Lois Chiles) is murdered. Also aboard is famed Belgian detective Poirot (Ustinov) and his taciturn traveling companion, Colonel Race (David Niven). Poirot undertakes an investigation into Ridgeway's killing. Among the colorful suspects are Salome (Angela Lansbury) and Rosalie Otterbourne (Olivia Hussey), Doctor Bessner (Jack Warden), Mrs. Van Schuyler (Bette Davis), Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith), and Jacqueline De Bellefort (Mia Farrow). As more bodies pile up, however, it appears that nearly everyone aboard has a motive. The script for Death on the Nile (1978) was adapted by Anthony Shaffer, the writer of Sleuth (1972) and the identical twin brother of Amadeus (1984) author Peter Shaffer. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Ustinov, Jane Birkin, (more)
- 1977
Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Michel Gauché, a stunt double and trickster who is crazy in love with his former fiancee, work-mate, and fellow stunt performer Jane (Raquel Welch). She, however, is so angry with him for landing her in the hospital due to a badly performed stunt that she breaks off the engagement. Belmondo also plays Bruno Ferrari, the movie star he is doubling for, an effeminate homosexual who lusts after his stuntman. Because Jane is angry with Michel, she falls into the arms of a film producer, and arranges for Michel to re-do the same stunt over and over again endlessly. She also tries to woo Bruno the movie star and discovers that he is not interested in women. Michel tries hard to win her back, sometimes pretending to be the movie star, which confuses her to no end. Just as she is about to marry a dull aristocrat, Belmondo appears in an old gorilla outfit and abducts her from the aisles of the church. Belmondo was famous for doing all his own stunts, and he continued that tradition in this film. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Raquel Welch, (more)
- 1975
Pierre Richard and Jane Birkin star in this madcap slapstick comedy. The director of the bank he works at has induced Pierre (Richard) to impersonate him for a brief time. During that time, some tough, muscular transvestites come in and steal some important papers under his care. In order to save his own (and the bank's) reputation, he must recover them before the theft is noticed. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Richard, Jane Birkin, (more)
- 1975
Two men are driving a refuse truck to a dump site and stop for a hamburger. Krassky (Joe Dallesandro), one of the two, strikes an acquaintance with Johnny (Jane Birkin), the girl who works in the restaurant. They swiftly become lovers. However, Krassky is basically a homosexual, and must consummate their lovemaking in a slightly unusual way. His fellow truck-driver, Padovan (Hugues Quester), is also his lover. Padovan is intensely jealous, and attempts to kill Johnny. When Krassky fails to defend her, Johnny berates him, and he and Padovan resume their journey together. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Joe Dallesandro, (more)
- 1975
Losseray (Michel Piccoli) is a surgeon who has recently suffered a heart attack but has returned to work. He is being hassled by the owner of a nearby medical clinic and becomes obsessed with the story of Berg (Gerard Depardieu), another surgeon who was similarly hassled by the same man some years before. Berg killed himself, his wife and children, apparently in response to the pressure. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michel Piccoli, Gérard Depardieu, (more)
- 1975
- R
Jane Birkin stars in this sex farce as a young British prostitute in Paris who, after her soft-core business fails, decides to go big-time and incorporate herself, selling stock to four disparate investors. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Patrick Dewaere, (more)
In this French satire, a meek little bank (Jean-Louis Trintignant) clerk finds fame and fortune when he begins getting lessons from an impoverished novelist (Jean-Pierre Cassel) . Soon the clerk is wowing the Parisians with his ability to make the women swoon, and for his talent at attracting money. The film is also known as The French Way Is. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jean-Louis Trintignant, Romy Schneider, (more)
- 1974
In Serieux Comme le Plaisir, two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy anyway, so the trio doesn't worry much about money. One day they decide to take a trip in their beat-up car, managing the whole affair in their own special, insouciant manner. They are followed by a suspicious policeman who thinks there's something fishy about this group. As part of their play they tie the girl up, apparently leaving her behind, but she adamantly refuses to be rescued and heaps abuse on anyone who tries, including the hapless policeman. At some point she goes off with an Eastern monarch, leaving her lovers behind. She returns, and soon the trio is once again sniping at puzzled interlopers, playfully going about their business of confusing everyone. Later on in the film they are seen depositing their son at school where he is awaited by two young girls. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jane Birkin, Richard Leduc, (more)
- 1974
Pierre (Pierre Richard) is a rumpled-looking fellow, consistently overlooked by the nubile girls at the college where he teaches mathematics. However, when he wins the affection of a movie star (Jane Birkin), he wins more attention than he bargained on: his stuffy father disapproves of the affair, the press is entranced, and the college girls can't keep away from him. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Pierre Richard, Jane Birkin, (more)
- 1973
Complications abound in this French film, which tells the story of a filmmaker (Jean-Luc Bideau) who is attempting to put his real life into a movie; his interactions with the people in the movie he is filming create reverberations in his "real" life, although the past remains unchanged. Among the complications is his growing regard for the woman who plays his cinematic wife (Jane Birkin). She may wind up replacing his actual wife in real life. One of the highlights of this film is the insight it gives into the actual mechanics of filmmaking. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Françoise Fabian, Jean-Luc Bideau, (more)
