User reviews

Greetings again from the darkness. Fearless, brave, and risk-taking. These are words often used to describe the acting choices of Charlotte Gainsbourg, who has been on screen regularly since she was a teenager. And it's no wonder, given a resume that includes such films as NYMPHOMANIAC VOL I and II (2013), MELANCHOLIA (2011), and ANTICHRIST (2009). But it's likely she's never been more reticent than when directing her first film ... a documentary on her mother, actor and singer Jane Birkin. This is anything but another profile of a famous person. No, this is something so intimate and personal that we often feel like we are eavesdropping and invading the privacy of mother and daughter.

We open with Jane singing on stage with the symphony at Bataclan Paris. It's a reminder of how this icon from the 'swinging 60's' remains a beloved figure today. But this is no career retrospective. In fact, there is very little structure ... it's kind of a meandering journey through the time Jane and daughter Charlotte spend together. Much of it is filmed at Jane's beautiful riverfront home in France, and it seems Charlotte's focus is on creating some special moments that she can recall once her 74-year-old mother is no longer around. Death, illness, and aging are all discussed.

Jane Birkin may be best known as the muse to Serge Gainsbourg, Charlotte's father, and for singing his risqué song, "Je t'ame, moi non plus". There is an initial awkwardness between mother and daughter, and that's likely due to the uncertainty over the reason for this documentary. Charlotte, also a photographer, is frequently seen snapping pictures of her mother, even as the film crew does their thing. It's obvious both mother and daughter are more comfortable with the camera than they are with each other, though they do warm up as things progress.

Jane discusses her propensity to hoard items, rarely discarding anything. She jokes that Charlotte will have to decide what's to keep once she's gone. One of the oddest sequences occurs when the two ladies visit Serge's old home. He passed away in 1991 and it appears the home hasn't changed much, other than to display items as if it were a museum. Even some of the canned food has exploded since it's been more than 30 years. It's kinda creepy and a bit surreal watching them fumble through the place, picking out items that bring back memories.

"The Birkin", a handbag by Hermes, still sells for thousands of dollars, and Jane makes it clear she still cares about her looks ... wrinkles and famously tousled hair. The insecurities and guilt are never really dealt with here, leaving it mostly a project of love and respect. Perhaps Charlotte wanted to ensure that the moments put on film were never about regret and instead about finding joy and comfort together. It seems this is much more a film for these two ladies, and less so for the rest of us. For a more interesting primer, see JANE B FOR AGNES V, a 1988 documentary on Jane Birkin by Agnes Varda. That's not a home movie.

Opening March 18, 2022 in New York and March 25, 2022 in Los Angeles.

I really enjoyed this documentary. I loved the very intimate and delicate atmosphere all around, especially the very last minutes: Charlotte very articulately expressed what I fear many of us feel as we reach adulthood.

It might be a bit slow at times, but I didn't mind it as I seem to have a soft spot for this kind of documentaries where the daughter or the son records the life and anecdotes of their parents with no other purpose,or so it seems, than to make them immortal for a little while.

Having said that, I just wished we had been given more context to better understand some scenes. At times I wasn't sure what I was seeing and I'm sure that with a bit of information everything would have made much more sense. But that's my only complaint, really.

Very recommendable if you like this sort of films.

The more personal and intimate a project is, and the less detached and objective - specifically (but not necessarily exclusively) nonfiction projects - the more gawky and awkward it feels. We saw this during the early self-isolation period of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic when a great deal of produced content consisted of face-to-face Zoom meetings recorded for posterity, we've seen it with other documentaries that were passion projects for the filmmaker, and that's definitely true here, too. This comes from various notions, I think, like a subconscious thought that we're privy to conversations that should be private, or the creator and or subject's enthusiasm overwhelming earnest intent or craftsmanship, or perhaps a sense that what is interesting for the creator may not hold broader appeal. Which category or categories 'Jane par Charlotte' falls into is a reasonable question that I think it's up to each individual viewer to assess, but even with all this hanging over the movie, still I think it's engaging and enjoyable more than not. Save possibly for one is a diehard fan of Jane Birkin or Charlotte Gainsbourg I don't think this is a must-see by any means, but it's suitable for curious audiences to check out on a lazy day.

I appreciate Gainsbourg's purpose here, hoping to learn more about her mother, herself, and their relationship by turning that exploration into documentary. Exactly how successful that aim was, and how much meaningful substance this can claim, is something only Gainsbourg can really answer, but in the very last this 2021 picture certainly carries that air of a more personal endeavor, not least with its loose, handheld camerawork. And one way or another what we get are small glimpses of Birkin's thoughts on motherhood, her multi-faceted career, aging, and of course the dynamics between her and her children, second daughter Charlotte above all, and their shared history. For my part, while there's nothing especially striking about 'Jane par Charlotte,' I do like it, and think it's duly inviting and suitably keeps one's attention. It's also almost invariably more rewarding and fulfilling for Birkin and Gainsbourg themselves, or their family, rather than anyone without a direct attachment to them. As if to emphasize the point, given the tight focus of the presentation, there is little to no context or additional information provided for viewers who aren't already in some capacity aware of or familiar with the two stars or their family life.

While the conversation and photography is very candid, it's readily evident that Gainsbourg had some special places in mind for her and Birkin to revisit, and arranged some scenes (some with a clear artistic bent) for that conversation to unfold in. A similar tack in more detached or investigative documentaries is too often off-putting for the contrivance, yet once more, I think given the nature of this feature such instances work in the project's favor. Taken together with the soundtrack that Gainsbourg curated herself, and glimpses at home video or old photos from years ago during her childhood or earlier still in Birkin's life, the end result is, unexpectedly, mildly enchanting. 'Jane par Charlotte' is still something likely to appeal only to a select audience, but I'm rather pleased that even if it's no singular revelation (at least not for we who are not part of Birkin and Gainsbourg's extended family), at length it's more actively enticing than I supposed at the outset. In any event there's no need to go out of one's way for it, but if you do have the chance to watch, this is reasonably worthwhile on its own merits.

The relationship between a mother and a daughter changes in relation to the period in which it is examined. And when the daughter finds herself experiencing the same feelings, hesitations and experiences as her mother, whether they are contained in motherhood, or in the management of her own iconic celebrity that represents both of them as focal points for reaching an unprecedented peak of fame, here at the end all the knots come back to roost, as well as the doubts and perplexities, the false modesty and the hesitations put before as insurmountable obstacles, now come to smooth out sensationally.

This intimacy of approach, not very formal and all in all apparently sincere and full of impulses without false modesty, appears convincing, and the documentary is a genuine experiment at least in part convincing in the intimacy in which it allows us to access.

Pleasant ? Provocative ?

Both definitions are same good.

Because it is a special discover of memories, past episodes, motherhood and the relation with children ( and husbands ) , about career and aging.

In same measure, it is attractive for large, familiar themes and, maybe, each of them represents the real point of interest.

Jane Birkin was one of favorit singers of my late father. So, emotion was not absent in my case. In same measure, the subject of connection mother daughter or the assumation of not so young age with each of its signs are interest points.

In short, a comfortable trip. Not revelations, some bitterness and few drops of humor, nostalgia and few fists of questions about yourself annd the relation with beloved ones.