Category Archives: decadence

World cinema classics #22

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stth1IlAMk8]

Je t’aime… moi non plus (1976) – Serge Gainsbourg

I’m not sure Je t’aime… moi non plus would work if it was made today. I saw at the local art house cinema in my mid twenties. At the time I was as much in love with the yellow truck as with the decadence of the film, the performances of Jane Birkin, and Joe Dallesandro and the cameo by Gérard Depardieu. As a fan of Serge Gainsbourg, I’m glad to showcase it here today. The striptease scene at the beginning is very typical of this film. Towards the end of this Youtube clip, the footage is underlit.

Previous “World Cinema Classics“

In praise of non-eventfulness

Tomorrow is Brigitte Lahaie 52nd birthday. While researching for this post I stumbled upon the following clip which is a perfect example of the non-eventfulness I appreciate in some films. The first time the concept of non-eventfulness took shape was when I saw the extended scene in La Maman et la putain where one of the female protagonists puts a record on and listens to it in real-time (I believe this actually happens twice in that same film).

[Youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZzV7HLSYpk]

Unidentified clip of early Lahaie (when she was still a brunette)

Please notice how the food Lahaie is about to eat, gazes back at her in the clumsy editing.

The most powerful image of Lahaie I know of is the one where she is photographed standing topless sort of straddling a Great Dane dog. Here.

And here is her Google gallery.

Happy birthday Brigitte.