Banned for children under 16, Serge Gainsbourg’s first sultry film returns to theaters with Jane Birkin

What is it about?

Two boys, Padovani and Crass, are driving their truck down a deserted road when they come across an isolated snack bar where John, a young English girl with tomboyish looks, works as a waitress. A young woman’s dull and dreary everyday life is disrupted when Krass stalks her for the first time…

Everyone knows the song I don’t love you either. One of the most famous in Serge Gainsbourg’s repertoire, it was first performed with Brigitte Bardot in 1967, then in a much more famous version with Jane Birkin in 1969. The title became so famous that the formula became an expression that is still used many times today.

But do you know the movie Je t’aime moi non plus? It is the first feature film written and directed by Serge Gainsbourg, released almost 50 years ago, in 1976 to be exact. Banned for children under 16, the film attracted more than 500,000 curious viewers* at the time.

This is the first release of the film to be released brillianceWhich makes it a true rarity, not to be missed if the film is playing in a theater near you!

The reputation of sulphur, the scent of the forbidden

Why should you see or watch this movie? To say that Je t’aime moi non plus has a sulphurous reputation is an understatement. A feature film whose poetry and courage can be admired, but we can also express a form of rejection, especially because of its form. Je t’aime moi non plus is a rather harsh and rough film that can be described as an intimate western. With its arid setting, sticky atmosphere and echoes of the Western genre.

Not recommended for children under 16, the film is quite rough and some scenes should be reserved for informed audiences. It contains many sex scenes which may be disturbing. He complains, he screams… Sodom… The film barely escaped the X rating in France. “If movies are sexy, it’s because life is– explained Jane Birkin during filming, in this INA archive, which allows you to imagine the atmosphere of the film and the filming in Uzes.

And emphasized the point of the film, in his words at the time: “All the people who think of p*d*s as poor sick people or whatever will walk away from the movie at least a touch because the characters touch. They won’t be shocked, but they will be confused. Everyone is a bit bisexual.“To embody these characters, Gainsbourg surrounded himself with Jane Birkin, his companion at the time, but also with Warholian muse Joe Dallesandro and Hugh Quester.

Serge Gainsbourg was a geek artist and it was with this approach that he wrote and directed Je t’aime moi non plus. “It is the result of many things that I have touched, such as painting, architecture, film music, etc.“, he says, still in this INA archive. Some see parallels between the moving art and his cinema. Sensations run high, perhaps leaving viewers hungry for a more narrative plot. Be warned, this film is destabilizing, disorienting, but that’s its director. intention. .

Moviegoers will be delighted to discover a few small anecdotes: the voice of Frances Huster to dub Joe Dallesandro, and the appearance of a very young Michel Blanc and Gerard Depardieu.

It should be noted that Serge Gainsbourg would direct three other feature films: Equateur in 1983, Charlotte Forever in 1986, and Stan the Flasher in 1990.

Je t’aime moi non plus hits theaters this Wednesday, September 20, 2023.

*Source CBO box office