"I love you, I
don't," as the English version of this film is called, was also the title of a song recorded by director Serge Gainsbourg
and his then-girlfriend Brigitte Bardot. Later, he re-recorded it with his new
girlfriend, Jane Birkin, and it became a runaway best seller,
selling six million copies worldwide, despite being banned by the
BBC. The
song was thought to include references to anal sex, and was erotic
enough to piss off the pope, and censors in many countries. It was
obviously the inspiration for the film script.
A gay garbage truck
driver (Joe Dallessandro) and his boyfriend stop at a truck stop,
and he is instantly attracted to Johnny (Jane Birkin) the waitress,
who looks almost like a boy. When asked about her name, she answers
that it is because she has no tits or big butt. She works for a
creep, and the truck stop is remote, so she is lonely and love-starved.
Joe begins pursuing her, but his boyfriend is insanely jealous, and
Jane's boss warns her that her new beau is gay.
Since the film is French, the cast naturally includes Gerard
Depardieu. To give you an idea how omnipresent Depardieu is in
French cinema, he has 141 credits, 9 in production for this year,
and already has one in preproduction for next year. This time,
Depardieu
sees Joe's boyfriend, and says that he knows the guy wants him to
fuck him up the ass, but he has sent too many boys to the hospital that
way, and now prefers his horse.
Not unexpectedly, Joe and Jane develop additional relationship
problems. Joe can't bear the thought of vaginal sex, and his early
attempts at anal sex are so painful to her that she ends up screaming and
gets them thrown out of hotels. They finally consummate their mutual
attraction in the back of his dump truck. Just when you think we are
heading for a happy ending, things go wrong.
This is not an easy film to categorize, but I guess it is a love
story centered around Jane Birkin's boyish figure. Jane and the cast
engage in plenty of sex, nudity, and raunchy talk, and Birkin's
husband admits he had some trouble with jealousy directing her in
this film. It is an easy watch even with the subtitles, as it
is not heavily dialogue based, and everyone in the cast can act. The
lighting and camera work ranges from very good to outstanding, and
the story is certainly not the same old Hollywood formula.
