In the age of Instagram, Jane Birkin’s personal style often eclipsed her multifarious talents. Granted, she did establish the perfect sartorial symbiosis between Brit-hip and French-chic, but her embodiment of complete coolness lay first and foremost in her flair for all things creative. Music, film, fashion, literature—she was a master of them all. On what would have been her 78th birthday, Vogue charts her 10 best moments in the creative sphere that kicked off her fame: film.
Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection1/10Blow-Up (1966)
It was 1966 when 20-year-old baby boomer Birkin emerged in the Swinging capital, debuting her signature long locks and feathered fringe in Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up. She played a young girl with typically teenage dreams—she wants to be “the next big thing”—which ironically triggered her off-screen fame. As she prances around London in a stripy shift, youth and innocence intertwine with a desire to be the subject of fashion’s most trusted photographic eye.
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Wonderwall (1968)
Wonderwall, which premiered at Cannes in 1968, is a cult window into ’60s psychedelic culture, complete with a trippy soundtrack composed by George Harrison. While much of Birkin’s acting career centered on French romantic dramas, this one was all mute psychedelia: she doesn’t speak a word throughout. The dreamer is Oscar Collins, a butterfly-collectsing professor who, upon peering through a peeping hole into the next door apartment, catches sight of a photographer-model couple. Birkin plays Penny Lane, and Collins soon becomes entranced.
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Slogan (1969)
Slogan is celebrated not just for its obvious satirical merits, but also its catalytic influence on Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg; this was where the two first met. The story goes like this: An aging advertiser (played by Gainsbourg) falls out of love with his wife and decides to pursue a young British beauty. (Enter Birkin. ) The result? A mesmerizing relationship—and, outside of the film, a long-term marriage.
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La Piscine (1969)
The 1969 cult thriller places Birkin opposite Alain Delon and Romy Schneider in a languid, St Tropez-set mystery. Rivalry, jealously, lust—they’re all explored in a hot and bothered setting that amps up the tension. Plus, Birkin gives very good swimwear.
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Cannabis (1970)
By the ’70s, Birkin and Gainsbourg had hit it off. Their off-screen relationship blossomed so quickly that they soon made a second film together: Under the direction of Pierre Koralnik, Cannabis veers more towards the crime genre, featuring an intense (yet romantic) meeting between the two leads on an airplane.
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Trop Jolies Pour Etre Honnêtes (1972)
The 1970s prototype for Sex and the City, Seduction Squad, as the title was translated, details the lives of four female roommates—Birkin, Bernadette Lafont, Elizabeth Weiner, and Emma Cohen—who accidentally help a group of thugs with a heist. But upon discovering the stolen goods in an apartment across their street, they plan to steal them back. It’s a light-hearted caper comedy with a stylish backdrop aided by Gainsbourg’s accompanying score.
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Don Juan, Or If Don Juan Were a Woman (1973)
This French-Italian drama, directed by Roger Vadim, features Brigitte Bardot as the female version of the fictional Spanish libertine, leading a carefree life of dangerous liaisons and taking pleasure in the destruction of men. A luminous Birkin stars alongside.
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Je T’aime Moi Non Plus (1976)
Seven years after the release of Gainsbourg and Birkin’s controversial duet “Je t'aime moi non plus,” he re-used the title for his directorial debut. Much like in the lovers’ song, Birkin is the film’s star—but this time she’s swapped her signature lengthy locks for a choppy boy-cut, playing an innocent diner waitress who becomes caught up in a love triangle. The sex is uncensored, to say the least (the film was banned in the UK), and if the title is an indicator of anything, it’s the constant contradictions inherent in relationships: “I love you… I don’t.” For her performance, Birkin received a César nomination for best actress.
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Evil Under The Sun (1982)
Forty years after Agatha Christie’s Evil Under the Sun came out, Birkin starred in the film adaptation by Guy Hamilton. She played Christine Redfern, wife of the handsome Patrick, with whom she resides on an exclusive island resort rocked by a mysterious murder. If you’re a Christie fan, this is a faithful cinematic retelling—and with Birkin comes an unsurprisingly impressive wardrobe: think monochrome skirt suits, plenty of stripes, and excessively large sun hats. (Diana Rigg gets some pretty fabulous swimsuits and turbans, too.)
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La Pirate (1984)
Birkin’s role in the French drama involves two different relationships: one with Andrew, her brutal husband, and another with Carol, her friend and ex-lover. With director Jacques Doillon refusing to shy away from controversial topics, the film feels like the ultimate tug-of-war between two kinds of love. Which will Birkin choose? (N.B: She chose Doillon: Together they had a daughter, Lou.)
