''Je t'aime moi non plus'' (English title: ''I Love You, I Don't'') is a 1976 feature film written, directed, and scored by

Serge Gainsbourg Serge Gainsbourg (; born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French musician, singer-songwriter, actor, author and filmmaker. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provoca ...

, starring

Jane Birkin Jane Mallory Birkin, Order of British Empire, OBE (born 14 December 1946) is an English-French singer and actress. She attained international fame and notability for her decade-long musical and romantic partnership with Serge Gainsbourg. She als ...

Hugues Quester Hugues Quester (born 5 August 1948) is a French actor. He has appeared in more than 60 films and television shows since 1969. He starred in Raúl Ruiz's 1983 film '' City of Pirates''. Selected filmography * ''Mr. Freedom'' (1969) * ''La rose d ...

and

Joe Dallesandro Joseph Angelo D'Allesandro III (born December 31, 1948) is an American actor and Warhol superstar. Having also crossed over into mainstream roles such as mobster Lucky Luciano in the film '' The Cotton Club'', Dallesandro was a sex symbol of g ...

, and featuring a cameo by

Gérard Depardieu Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu, CQ (, , ; born 27 December 1948) is a French actor, filmmaker, businessman and vineyard owner since 1989 who is one of the most prolific thespians in film history having completed over 250 films since 1967 alm ...

Plot

A frail and love-starved young woman, Johnny (Jane Birkin), works in a truckstop café in the middle of nowhere. One day two gay truckers enter, manly and worldwise Krassky (Joe Dallesandro) and his younger lover Padovan (Hugues Quester). Padovan is young and handsome, but immature and rather a handful. Krassky, tired of taking care of Padovan, who keeps getting into trouble, discovers in himself an attraction for this boyish girl. She in turn falls head over heels for him. They start a relationship; though Krassky hesitates before the meager feminine graces of curveless Johnny, he ends up being charmed by her naïve and unconditional love. She is willing to accept anything out of love for him, including anal sex. Although inexperienced at this, so that her screams of pain cause them to be thrown out of several motels. In the end, the back of Krassky's dirty garbage truck will be the theatre of their union. Furiously jealous, Padovan tries to kill Johnny by suffocating her. Krassky intervenes and saves Johnny, but does it so casually that Johnny gets enraged and insults him. Krassky then returns to his first love and leaves with him, abandoning Johnny to her café, brokenhearted and lonely once again.

Cast

as Johnny *

as Krassky *

as Padovan *

Reinhard Kolldehoff Reinhard Kolldehoff (29 April 1914 – 18 November 1995) was a German film actor. He appeared in 140 films between 1941 and 1988. He was born and died in Berlin, Germany. Selected filmography * '' The Gasman'' (1941) - Polizeibeamter (uncr ...

as Boris *

as man on horse * Jimmy Davis as Moïse * Maïté Nahyr as prostitute *

Liliane Rovère Liliane Rovère (born 30 January 1933) is a French actress. Personal life In 1955, she went to the United States where she met Chet Baker. They lived together for two years. She was married to ''Bibi Rovère''. In 1971, they adopted a girl tha ...

as motel client *

Michel Blanc Michel Blanc (born 16 April 1952) is a French actor, writer and director. He is noted for his roles of losers and hypochondriacs. He is frequently associated with Le Splendid, which he co-founded, along with Thierry Lhermitte, Josiane Balasko, ...

as worker * Claudia Butenuth as customer

Background and production

''Je t'aime moi non plus'' was the first film directed by Gainsbourg. It took its title from his song " Je t'aime... moi non plus" and stars Jane Birkin, his wife, who performed the song with him in a scandal-provoking 1969 release. Dallesandro, cast as Krassky, was known for his muscular build. Depardieu appears briefly as a gay local. The film's themes of sexual freedom and the ultimate unachievability of all-encompassing love are typical of the 1970s and of Gainsbourg's work.

Release and reception

Released in France on March 10, 1976, the film was panned in reviews as immoral and did poorly, but was defended by French cinephiles including

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. After a career of more tha ...

. It was released on video by the independent label Western Connection in 1994, and in the mid-2000s it was released on DVD. A restored version was released in the United States in 2019. Film review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports a 91% approval critic response based on 11 reviews, indicating "Fresh" and an average score of 8.0/10.

References

External links

* 1976 films Gay-related films Films directed by Serge Gainsbourg Films produced by Claude Berri French LGBT-related films Male bisexuality in film Films scored by Serge Gainsbourg 1970s French films {{LGBT-film-stub