has to be one of the most surprising movies ever. There is absolutely no way anyone paid money to make this or see it. The description on the board is accurate. Worst ever.
"Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room." Winston Churchill
C'mon, this movie might have had its flaws, but it's certainly far from being the worst. It could have been a classic, but somehow it succumbed into obscurity and became dated due to some cinematic tricks go wrong.
I thought it was great only because of the motorcycles. A couple of good riding shots of a Norton and a Harley. The laughable parts were when the girl was shown riding the bike at speed with eyes wide open and no goggles. Anybody who rides certainly knows that it's really uncomfortable riding over 20mph with no eye protection. You can see her getting a bit watery while looking wide-eyed off into space at 60mph.
Also, the combination of live action scenes mixed in with blue screen shots were a bit too obvious.
Its dated kitsch like a lot of other films from this time period, but I didn't feel it was too overextended at 90 minutes. Also, it had some nice cinematography and scenery when it wasn't being too psychedelic and I thought Faithfull and Delon each had their moments and didn't embarass themselves, besides being at their physical peaks of sexiness. So, yes, its all rather silly but I've definitely seen far worse.
It's very uneven and some of the dialogue is forced and too self conscious. But, being its director was Jack Cardiff, the film is beautiful to look at with two gorgeous leads and very stylish vis a vis the costumes, especially the leather motorcycle suit.
I seriously think this is worst film I've ever seen. Others are more boring, more trite and more badly acted, but what's particularly annoying about The Girl on a Motorcycle is its smug, flat-footed pretentiousness.
By today's standards, of course, it's also astoundingly un-PC, and not in a good way. Delon sneaks into Faithfull's chalet and rapes her. She enjoys it so much that she becomes his lover. Crossing the border to meet him, she's fondled by a lascivious black man at a security post. On her return, she wonders if the "negro" will flirt with her again, but instead encounters a bitchy "queer".
Throughout the film, Faithfull's character is tediously self-absorbed and says nothing of any interest whatsoever. I'll admit, however, to hooting at Delon's line: "Your body's like a violin in a velvet case," which made me laugh more than most comedies do.
It would be hard to treat Mandiargues's novel in cinema in any way whatsoever and simultaneously avoid charges of being pretentious. In the novel she isn't molested by the black man. The themes in the novel/novella are pretty deep. Can this work as visual art at all? I don't know. In any case, it's certain that we are supposed to regard the entire plot as allegorical, and we can't disregard the timing of its publication. The death of the avant garde is the death symbolised by this paradoxical fable of a doomed quest to expectedly experience the unexpected for a second time albeit in a safe and expected way (the girl's desire), and encountering the unexpected in its fully lethal form instead. Is her character self-absorbed? She remarks that she is open to sensual experience unlike others and this is why she rides a motorcycle and doesn't prefer a car. Yet perhaps she is, after all, supremely self-absorbed. Her sleeping husband makes sacrifices for her but she dreams of a kind of mystical surrender with her lover. It's a tough work to navigate.
That was surprising, considering her lover appeared as a shy professor when they met at the book store. Some of those scenes would definitely raise controversy today! It was a goofy film!