It seems pretty tame in retrospect, but viewers of Antonioni's Blow-Up may recall a then-sensational scene in which David Hemmings engages in a randy romp with a pair of naked teeny-boppers. One of them was Jane Birkin, an unknown but aspiring young actress. She is now very well known, indeed, but it took another succès de scandale to do the trick: a record called Je t'Aime ... moi Non Plus, Jane's vocal of a love song--accompanied by sounds of an amorous liaison between her and singer-composer-actor Serge Gainsbourg. Its ban from air play in most countries boosted sales past 3,000,000. Before finding her new groove, Jane had achieved only modest fame in films, appearing most recently with Serge in Slogan as--appropriately--his mistress.
Since the release of their record, this loving couple (above) has begun to achieve a notoriety that European columnists compare with the uproar over Liz and Dick. But unlike the Burtons, Jane and Serge show no inclination to conceal--nor legitimize--their unwedded bliss. This upfront honesty about her private love style--and its candid reflection on the screen--promises to earn Jane, say her breathless publicists, unchallenged claim to the title Sex Symbol of the Seventies and increasing attention from those who interpret her emerging image as a commentary on modern-day mores. The happy result for Jane and Serge is a busy filming schedule, including a soon-to-be-released thriller, Cannabis, and the prospect of an appreciative new audience in America.
