Goodbye Gemini

This is a very decent movie directed by Alan Gibson, who would later become a second-rate Hammer director responsible for such dreck as "Dracula AD 1972" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula". It features Judy Geeson, at the height of her loveliness, and Martin Potter, one of the pretty-boys from "Fellini's Satyricon", as a pair of seemingly innocent fraternal twins who come to London and are preyed upon by a crowd of jaded hedonists led by a guy named Clive (who sports flaming red mutton-chops and the strangest English accent I have ever heard).

Most of the movie resembles a more serious version of Pete Walker's "Cool It, Carol", and probably a more historically accurate one too as far as the Swinging London Era of the 1960's is concerned. The movie then veers into psycho territory, however. The twins have an unusually symbiotic relationship and display some psychopathic tendencies, like playing a nasty prank that causes their landlady to fall down the stairs. In the most memorable scene they dress up in bedsheets with only their eyes showing and challenge Clive to tell them apart. The childish game shockingly winds up with an ornamental sword going through one person's neck and everything unravels from there. Some may find the sheer pathos and the unresolved ambiguity of the end a little frustrating, but it makes for a memorable movie is nothing else.

I'd recommend this period because it is genuinely unique movie, but if you like films about Swinging London like "Blow Up" or "Cool It, Carol", or British psycho movies like "Peeping Tom" or "Twisted Nerve" this one should be especially enjoyable

This.seems to be a hangover from the swinging sixties.A very strange story and weird characters.It is difficult to know what Michael Redgrave is doing in this.The film is a total mess and wouldn't have advanced the career of anyone involved with it.

Twins Jacki (Judy Geeson) and Julian (Martin Potter) arrive in swinging London and quickly fall in with the wrong crowd. Well, smarmy Clive (Alexis Kanner) to be more specific. Clive worms his way between the tight bond the twins have and, after he threatens to blackmail Julian, some killing goes down. This is a pretty minor horror-thriller as nothing really happens for the first 50 minutes. After that, it is a half hour of overwrought drama as Jacki runs from the law and gets help from an old guy. The film's biggest merit is probably the capturing the bars, folks and style of late 60s swinging London. Oh, and the hippest debt collector you will ever see. There is also some pretty snappy dialog and Kanner is really good as the would-be blackmailer.

Infantile psychotic twins Jacki and Julian (Judy Geeson and Martin Potter) arrive in London, immediately arranging an accident for their grouchy landlady so that they can have the run of the place. The siblings then set about experiencing the swinging London party scene, where they meet louche rogue Clive (Alexis Kanner, sporting some impressive mutton-chops). After Clive is roughed up by a bookmaker to whom he owes £400, he tricks Julian into bed with a pair of transvestites, takes a few photos and proceeds to blackmail the young man. However, instead of getting cash for his troubles, Clive gets knifed in the neck instead.

As a child of the '70s, I have an affinity with films from that era, especially those set in the UK, but Goodbye Gemini was a tough one to endure. It's horrible, hippy nonsense that features hedonistic characters hard to sympathise with, atrocious dialogue, and incomprehensible behaviour from all involved. An incestuous relationship between the inseparable twins is hinted at, which adds an edginess to proceedings, the music is groovy, and there are a couple of outrageously camp homosexuals who are mildly amusing (one wears a bright pink shirt and uses the word 'ducky' a lot—you don't get much more '70s than that!), but there really is very little else worthy of mention.

"Goodbye Gemini" has Nehru shirts, large ties, hair helmets and sideburns, old guys hanging around with young birds, wall-to-wall partying, a dash of transvestitism, a little incest, and an atmosphere of anything goes as long as it's outrageous. It could only be the Swinging Sixties, and as they say, if you remember them, you weren't there.

The film is hard to define. It's a thriller, but with a unique vibe. Julian (Martin Potter) and Jacki (Judy Geeson) are an unnaturally close twin brother and sister who play games and live in a make-believe world. As Michael Redgrave's character says, "They carry their own universe with them". But Julian has a stronger attraction towards his sister than she has for him.

When they move to London to live in a large house arranged for them by their father, things start to unravel. We learn that all is not right when Julian viciously gets rid of the housekeeper who is in charge of the household. With the run of the house, they gravitate towards the London pub and party scene.

They meet some unsavoury characters especially Clive (Alexis Kanner), a bi-sexual pimp whose sadistic streak threatens to destroy the pair. At a party, Jacki also encounters politician, James Harrington-Smith (Michael Redgrave) who helps her when her life spirals out of control. As Jacki and Julian attempt to free themselves from Clive, it leads to a violent murder and a bleak ending.

I first became aware of this movie when I bought the soundtrack record for a few dollars back in the 1980's. Apparently it became a bit of a collector's item before it was eventually released on CD. The music and songs catch the flavour of the 60's, and composer Christopher Gunning's lyrical main theme weaves its way through the film. Gunning is a brilliant composer, mainly for television, and hasn't done many films - this was his first - but he had great range; under the right circumstances, he could have been another John Barry.

If there is one reason to watch this film it is Judy Geeson. Cute and nymph-like, she breezes through the movie for much of the time in hip-hugging satin pants, captivating all the males around her whether young, old, or closely related.

The mood in the film changes just a little too abruptly in places, but it has a similar feeling of accumulating decadence to Joseph Losey's "The Servant" - although it takes its own course towards it's depressing, typical late 60's ending.

Beautifully filmed, "Goodbye Gemini" captures London at a certain time, but to be honest, with its offbeat story and slightly hysterical treatment, it's probably more of a novelty item these days.