This coming week the Gene Siskel Film Center will screen the new restoration of Je T’Aime, Moi Non Plus (1976), the first film written and directed by controversial French musician Serge Gainsbourg. I can’t recommend the film wholeheartedly, in spite of some memorably stark mise-en-scene and committed performances from Joe Dallesandro and Gainsbourg’s then-partner Jane Birkin, though I’m sure Gainsbourg fans will appreciate it. The movie represents a cinematic analogue to the sort of sexual provocations Gainsbourg recorded throughout his musical career—it’s designed to make viewers uncomfortable, even when (maybe especially when) it’s operating in a comic register. It also features some pleasant Gainsbourg instrumentals, including a jaunty piano-driven theme that showcases his tuneful side.
Mahogany A bizarre 1975 revival of the 50s women’s picture. The story—with Diana Ross as a fashion designer fighting her way to success, only to find that it’s lonely at the top—bears more than a passing resemblance to Imitation of Life, but director Berry Gordy (the Motown producer) is no Douglas Sirk. Billy Dee Williams contributes a passable Rock Hudson impression; Anthony Perkins, Jean-Pierre Aumont, and Nina Foch costar. —Dave Kehr
