JANE BIRKIN
Total Film|September 2023
From Gallic songs to Euro-cinema, activism to fashion, Jane Birkin brought style, daring and charm to all she did. The French Ministry of Culture called her a ‘timeless Francophone icon’, Emmanuel Macron a ‘complete artist’. When Birkin died aged 76 on 16 July 2023, stars from Brigitte Bardot to Iggy Pop paid reverential tribute: testimonies all to the cross-Channel multi-hyphenates multi-stranded talents.
KEVIN HARLEY
JANE BIRKIN

1946-2023

The daughter of an actress and a Naval officer-turned-spy, the London-born Birkin started acting early. As a teenager, she appeared in stage productions of Graham Greene’s Carving a Statue and the musical Passion Flower Hotel, scored by Bond composer John Barry. She married and had a daughter with Barry, before gaining notoriety after appearing naked in Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 talking point Blow-Up. An of-the-moment role in psychedelic Brit film Wonderwall followed.

When Barry left Birkin, she relocated to France, meeting louche grumbler/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. With him, Birkin recorded breathy duet Je T’aime… Moi Non Plus, which was condemned by the Vatican, banned in several countries and – duly – sent to the UK No.1 spot by enraptured record-buyers.

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