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5.3/10
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A married woman leaves her husband and zooms off on her motorcycle to see her lover.A married woman leaves her husband and zooms off on her motorcycle to see her lover.A married woman leaves her husband and zooms off on her motorcycle to see her lover.
Bari Jonson
- French Customs Officer
- (as Bari Johnson)
Chris Williams
- 2nd Student
- (as Christopher Williams)
Robert Rietty
- Of two roles
- (voice)
Stephanie Mildenhall
- Child
- (uncredited)
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I'm a sucker for swinging 60's era flicks, even cheesy ones (because of the great visuals), but I had heard that this film was very so unwatchably BAD that I never made it a priority on my mod movie flicks list. So I am REALLY glad that it popped up on cable just as I was flipping the channels. The story is okay (not great, but not a disaster), the dialog is a little rough at times but not awful, and the tragic ending was a little on the Russ Meyers side. But Marianne Faithful is just STUNNING throughout the movie (any of today's Hollywood starlets WISH they had an ounce of her natural beauty and on-screen presence), Alain Delon is a stone fox, and the dreamy flashbacks provide enough of a plot to make this film, dare I say, enjoyable:)
Needless to say, not only was I thrilled I caught it on cable, but I was equally pleased to have stumbled upon it TWICE in one week. Definitely adding the DVD to my retro movie collection.
Needless to say, not only was I thrilled I caught it on cable, but I was equally pleased to have stumbled upon it TWICE in one week. Definitely adding the DVD to my retro movie collection.
An emerging cult classic that was hard to find until its recent release on video, GIRL ON A MOTORCYCLE is beautiful in its simplicity. Marianne Faithfull's character serves as a wish-fulfilment fantasy for both men and women, she's a figure of liberation and freedom who bucks social conventions to follow her heart. The film was a labor of love for veteran Hollywood cinematographer Jack Cardiff, and captures the late 1960's zeitgeist that is nowadays parodied in films like "Austin Powers." But one need only compare the opening sequence of this film to the beginning of David Lynch's "Lost Highway" to see the influence this film still has thirty years later.
Rated "X" when it was originally released, even the "uncensored" version would be lucky to get an "R" these days, which more reflects changing social morays than the filmmakers' intentions. Far from reputation the film has developed, it is in fact an intriguing psychological study of a troubled young woman who must choose either a safe, loveless marriage or a passionate affair with a man who vows never to love again.
Rated "X" when it was originally released, even the "uncensored" version would be lucky to get an "R" these days, which more reflects changing social morays than the filmmakers' intentions. Far from reputation the film has developed, it is in fact an intriguing psychological study of a troubled young woman who must choose either a safe, loveless marriage or a passionate affair with a man who vows never to love again.
First off, the video I saw claims to be the uncut version; this wasn't the heavily censored version released in North America (not that much of it would be cut today.)
The most interesting thing about this movie is how typical it is of the 60s - from the psychedelic effects to the long-winded talk about freedom.
It's also an hypocritical movie, in a way - while using nudity and strong sexual imagery, the film is a thinly-disguised attack on the 60s concept of freedom and "free love". This is a film that simultaneously tries to use the freedom ideal of the 60s and to criticize that ideal.
The director is best-known as a cinematographer, and it shows; while the film is very shallow in terms of plot and message, the cinematography is often brilliant.
Rating: worth seeing for historical reasons, not on its own merits.
The most interesting thing about this movie is how typical it is of the 60s - from the psychedelic effects to the long-winded talk about freedom.
It's also an hypocritical movie, in a way - while using nudity and strong sexual imagery, the film is a thinly-disguised attack on the 60s concept of freedom and "free love". This is a film that simultaneously tries to use the freedom ideal of the 60s and to criticize that ideal.
The director is best-known as a cinematographer, and it shows; while the film is very shallow in terms of plot and message, the cinematography is often brilliant.
Rating: worth seeing for historical reasons, not on its own merits.
Rebecca (Marianne Faithfull), a dissatisfied and restless young woman prone to talking to herself way too much leaves her boring, effete schoolteacher husband ("You never do what you want to do, only what you ought to do.") and hits the road from France to Germany to be with her more virile Swiss lover Daniel (Alain Delon).
If you dig cult cinema; the 60s when free love was happening, Baby; and an offbeat, erotic story told in a visually dazzling and kinetic fashion, then this Girl on a Motorcycle offers you a wild, sexy trip through her far-out mind that I think you'll definitely dig! Hop on and go for a spin, Daddy!
If you dig cult cinema; the 60s when free love was happening, Baby; and an offbeat, erotic story told in a visually dazzling and kinetic fashion, then this Girl on a Motorcycle offers you a wild, sexy trip through her far-out mind that I think you'll definitely dig! Hop on and go for a spin, Daddy!
Cult movies don't come much 'cultier' than "The Girl on a Motorcycle". This film was British in name only; fundamentally it was French through and through from its source novel, (La Motocyclette by Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues), to its leading actor, Alain Delon. Pop singer Marianne Faithful, naked but for a black leather jump suit, was really only standing in for Bardot. There's no real plot to speak of but there's a lot of sixties psychedelia, sex, nudity, cheesy dialogue (Your body is like a violin in a velvet case), and, of course, Faithful tearing along the highways and byways of Europe on a big, phallic motorbike to the bed of her lover, Delon.
The director was a somewhat unlikely Jack Cardiff whose superb cinematography also gives the film its texture. Faithful's non- performance is really rather appealing while the film itself is ripe for rediscovery. It's not actually very good but it's certainly weird enough to be of more than passing interest.
The director was a somewhat unlikely Jack Cardiff whose superb cinematography also gives the film its texture. Faithful's non- performance is really rather appealing while the film itself is ripe for rediscovery. It's not actually very good but it's certainly weird enough to be of more than passing interest.
Did you know
- TriviaA German woman who was a Playboy centerfold was originally cast as Rebecca, but was let go after she had a drug overdose. Marianne Faithfull was subsequently cast in the lead.
- GoofsIn close shots Rebecca and her motorbike stay vertical even going around corners, revealing the fact that she was probably on a trailer being towed behind the camera.
- Crazy creditsThe word "Customs" in the end credits is repeatedly and incorrectly written as "Custom's" (with an apostrophe).
- Alternate versionsOriginally released as "The Girl on a Motorcycle" and X-rated; later trimmed and re-released as "Naked Under Leather".
- ConnectionsFeatured in Harley-Davidson: The American Motorcycle (1992)
- SoundtracksGirl On A Motorcycle
Composed and arranged by Les Reed
Performed by The British Lion Orchestra conducted by Douglas Gamley
- How long is The Girl on a Motorcycle?Powered by Alexa
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- La chica de la motocicleta
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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