She had something to hold on to. Jane Birkin was the daughter of Judy Campbell, the muse of Noël Coward, the English Sacha Guitry. Even before she became famous by singing the songs of Serge Gainsbourg in her voice as a woman-child, she showed her sensitivity and her unique charm from the mid-1960s in films directed by Richard Lester and Michelangelo Antonioni. (Blow-up, gold palm 1967).
Blow-Up by Michelangelo Antonioni, in 1966, with Vanessa Redgrave, Peter Bowles, Sarah Miles, Jane Birkin…
But it was in France that Jane Birkin really began her acting career. Cinephiles have not forgotten that it was in La Piscine by Jacques Deray that we noticed his grace. She played the daughter of Maurice Ronet, a former lover of Romy Schneider. Serge Gainsbourg, who already loved her, came to the set every day because he was afraid that she would be seduced by the diabolical beauty of Alain Delon.
La Piscine by Jacques Deray, in 1969, with Romy Schneider, Alain Delon, Maurice Ronet, Jane Birkin…
For years, Claude Zidi, who associated her with the formidable Pierre Richard, and Michel Audiard gave her the roles of ravishing ingenues not so ingenuous as that. And in How to succeed when you’re stupid and crybaby, she transformed herself, with rare happiness, into a Baudelairian stripper, who reminded her admirers that Gainsbourg also had fun reinterpreting the work of the accursed poet.
The mustard goes to my nose with Claude Zidi, in 1974, with Pierre Richard, Jane Birkin, Claude Piéplu…
Then came the time for more dramatic characters that better suited his hypersensitive personality. For the seventh art, Jane Birkin also knew how to find her pygmalion. It was the filmmaker Jacques Doillon, with whom she fell in love.
How to succeed when you’re stupid and crybaby by Michel Audiard, in 1974, with Jean Carmet, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Jane Birkin, Jean Rochefort…
In 1985, she received her first César for her exceptional composition in La Pirate.
The Pirate by Jacques Doillon, in 1984, with Jane Birkin, Philippe Léotard, Maruschka Detmers, Andrew Birkin…
Finally recognized as a moving tragedian, she will be honored with a second supreme award two years later with the award of a second compression for her performance in La Femme de ma vie by Régis Wargnier.
The Woman of My Life by Régis Wargnier, in 1986, Jane Birkin, Jean-Louis Trintignant…
