Girl On A Motorcyle
Pop star, Mick Jagger paramour, and Metallica backup singer Marianne Faithfull stars in 1968's Girl On A Motorcycle as the title character, a black-leather-jumpsuit-clad cyclist who travels from France to Germany after abandoning her new husband (Roger Mutton) for her old lover (Gallic superstar Alain Delon). On her way, she rides and reflects. And rides and reflects. And rides. And reflects, her reflections occasionally taking the form of Fellini-inspired psychedelic freak-outs, but more often the form of dull voiceover narration set to attractive roadside scenery. Controversial in its time, Girl On A Motorcycle had to be re-edited to avoid an X rating in America, despite being given the more salacious title Naked Under Leather. This is the first time the uncut version has been released here, but it's unlikely to interest all but the most dedicated viewers of '60s youth films. While attempting to make a sweeping statement about sexual mores, all veteran cinematographer Jack Cardiff's butt-dull film does is confirm that a) Marianne Faithfull makes a better singer, so to speak, than an actress, and b) Europe is a very pretty place. "Your toes are like tombstones," Delon intones at one point, with a straight face. Keeping one while he says it isn't easy.