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JE T’AIME MOI NON PLUS: A Serge Gainsbourg Ode to Sex, Love & Jane Birkin

JE T’AIME MOI NON PLUS: A Serge Gainsbourg Ode to Sex, Love & Jane Birkin

JE T’AIME MOI NON PLUS: A Serge Gainsbourg Ode to Sex, Love & Jane Birkin

Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin made waves with the release of the song “Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus” in 1969. Banned from being broadcast on the radio in numerous countries due to its sexually explicit lyrics and Birkin’s breathy simulation of an orgasm, the song is a perfect summation of why Gainsbourg is remembered as such a legendary provocateur.

Seven years later, Gainsbourg made his directorial debut with a feature film of the same name, which is being re-released by Kino Lorber in a new 4K restoration. Starring Birkin alongside Warhol superstar Joe Dallesandro, it chronicles the unlikely love that blooms between a gay truck driver and a waifish truck stop waitress — and the difficulties they have in consummating it. Like the infamous song from which it takes its name, Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus is an unapologetically explicit ode to physical love, rendered cinematic thanks to Gainsbourg’s keen eye and the unique charms of Birkin.

Boy Meets Girl?

Hunky garbage truck driver Krass (Dallesandro) and his flighty boyfriend Padovan (Hugues Quester) stop at a greasy little gas station diner in the middle of nowhere, where Krass is immediately drawn to the cropped hair, delicate neck and narrow shoulders of the server behind the counter. Imagine his surprise when said server turns around and is revealed to be a woman, albeit an extremely boyish one at that. Indeed, she even goes by a boy’s name, introducing herself as Johnny (Birkin).

JE T’AIME MOI NON PLUS: A Serge Gainsbourg Ode to Sex, Love & Jane Birkin
source: Kino Lorber

Despite his initial disappointment at learning Johnny’s gender, Krass finds himself falling in love, in a way, with the lonely little woman. The same goes for Johnny, who is starved for loving attention in any form and refuses to listen to those who tell her Krass is queer — including Padovan, who grows increasingly unhinged with jealousy over Krass and Johnny’s burgeoning romance. Indeed, Johnny is so desperate to feel loved and wanted that she’ll accept sex from Krass in any form, and when Krass finds himself unable to get excited about traditional lovemaking with a woman…well, you can guess where that leads them. Anal sex causes Johnny so much pain that her screams get them kicked out of multiple motels, yet despite these difficulties and the lack of approval from those around them, she and Krass refuse to give up on their love.

Jane B. par Serge G.

Despite its relatively short 88-minute running time, Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus is a lot; there is no more appropriate way to describe it. Everything the film does, it does to an extreme degree, and that includes the explicit nature of the sex scenes between Krass and Johnny (as one could probably expect from a film directed by Gainsbourg and starring one of his most famous muses). Yet mixed with the aggressive eroticism is a sweet sadness, courtesy of Birkin’s performance, that gives the film a surprising depth.

JE T’AIME MOI NON PLUS: A Serge Gainsbourg Ode to Sex, Love & Jane Birkin
source: Kino Lorber

With her wide Kewpie-doll eyes and seemingly fragile figure, Johnny is the very picture of youthful naivety. Despite her boyish appearance and name, she clearly identifies as a girl, yet she’s so desperate for Krass to want her that, when he first rejects her body, she cries out “I’m a boy!” in an effort to convince him to take her to bed anyway. (It works, and results in their first failed attempt at lovemaking.) Yet when she shows up for a later dalliance in a fluffy pink sundress, she’s insulted when Krass reacts with disgust. “I told you to dress up,” he said. “I’m a girl!” she angrily yells in response. This reverse-echo of her earlier words signifies the beginning of the end of their whirlwind romance; despite their best efforts to wrap themselves in a cocoon of sex, their love is not strong enough to withstand their harsh reality.

The love triangle at the center of Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus seems to be telling a shockingly forward-thinking story about the fluidity of gender and sexuality, but as the film progresses, it ends up being the good old fashioned gender binary that helps destroy Krass and Johnny have. No matter how hard she tries, Johnny cannot be what Padavan is to Krass, and even if she can, others around them refuse to accept it — chiefly Padavan, who can’t understand what this skinny slip of a girl can offer Krass that he cannot, and becomes dangerously violent in his opposition to their relationship.

JE T’AIME MOI NON PLUS: A Serge Gainsbourg Ode to Sex, Love & Jane Birkin
source: Kino Lorber

Gainsbourg wrote, directed and scored Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus, and his talent for the visual rivals his musical ability. From the wide empty deserts that provide an evocative backdrop for the film — not to mention the perfect visual representation of Johnny’s incredible loneliness — to the loving close-ups of Birkin and Dallesandro’s famously beautiful faces, Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus is packed with masterfully composed shots that combine to create a feast for the eyes. (That the musical score is also a feast for the ears should go without saying.)

Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus: Conclusion

Even if the extremely erotic melodrama of the film is too much for you — and as I noted, it is indeed a lot — Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus is not without artistic merit. Rather, it’s another fitting example of what made Serge Gainsbourg such a unique and, yes, controversial talent.

What do you think? Would you watch a film directed by Serge Gainsbourg? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

The new 4K restoration of Je T’Aime Moi Non Plus opens at Quad Cinema in New York on October 11, 2019.

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