Je t’aime… moi non plus

I was lent the DVD of the film Betty Blue a couple of weeks ago and finally got around to watching it. Starring Jean-Hughes Anglade and Beatrice Dalle, the Director’s Cut at just about 3 hours in length requires a feat of endurance, but was absolutely worth every minute.

I just thought about the film right now and what a strange if unrelated coincidence, as I was looking through my song collection and came upon Je t’aime… moi non plus which I first heard in high school in the early 80’s, but haven’t listened to in ages. It reminded me of a scene from the film with Betty and Zorg fleeing to the city while getting a lift in a pick-up truck, after she sets fire to the beach shack they were living in.

Je t’aime… moi non plus has quite a colourful history. Written by Serge Gainsbourg, it was originally written for and sung with Bridgitte Bardot way back in 1967. It was not released after Bardot’s husband Gunter Sachs got wind of it. In 1968 Gainsbourg recorded another version with English actress Jane Birkin which was released in 1969. It was promptly banned from radio in several European cities and in the USA for being too risqué, and not surprisingly denounced by the Vatican as well.

Incidentally the version originally sung with Bardot was eventually released in 1986, but quite frankly is relatively timid compared to the Birkin duet, which as you can guess rocks my boat.

The song has been extensively covered by a diverse array of artists including Giorgio Moroder and Donna Summer, who was inspired by it to create the disco classic Love To Love You Baby.

Je t’aime, je t’aime
Oh oui je t’aime !
Moi non plus
Oh mon amour

Comme la vague irrésolue

Je vais, je vais et je viens
Entre tes reins
Je vais et je viens
Entre tes reins
Et je me retiens

My top six TV series… for the nonce

I’m a latecomer to the TV series mania that seems to have everyone in its grip, what with them being so readily available in the DVD and Blu-Ray formats, not to mention file sharing.

Having only ever watched documentary type series before, I picked up Season One of Dexter from a music store around 2010 when the series was already in its 5th season I think, and have been hooked ever since.

Here are my top six television series since then:

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6. The Vampire Diaries/True Blood

It was difficult to choose between the two, so I’ve decided to place them both in sixth position, being of the same genre. Being a skeptic, I find the supernatural most unappealing, but this is pure escapism. At any rate the love triangles in these two are not as awful and soppy as Twilight.

5. Boardwalk Empire

I dig period dramas and the Prohibition era in the USA is particularly fascinating, and so is moral ambiguity. Which boy doesn’t like blazing sub-machine guns? And Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson, is brilliant.

4. Dexter

I don’t normally like police drama series, since authority figures are a big turn-off for me. Also having lived in a police state under apartheid for many years, I don’t particularly like the Police. But Dexter Morgan the dark hero working as a forensic detective who moonlight’s as a serial killer, makes all the difference.

3. Game of Thrones

This series which has just completed airing series 3 in most places around the world has everyone’s attention in a spellbind. It would have featured higher on my favorites list, were it not for the fact that I’m already well into reading Book 5 of the epic fantasy series by George R.R. Martin, and I’m a little disappointed by the liberties taken by the Producers to change the events and characterisation when making GoT.

If you’re gobsmacked by the events in the finale of season three, there’s much more of that to come in future series… if the Producers don’t deviate too much with events as occurring in the book. But I’m giving nothing away here.

2. Breaking Bad

The pairing of Walter White a goody-two-shoes high school chemistry teacher, and Jesse Pinkman a wannabe drug dealer who cooks up his own meth into a duo of bumbling crooks, was a stroke of brilliance. Dark heroes are normally fascinating, but this pair is special. It will be sad to say farewell to these guys at the end of the fifth season as is currently being planned, but a 16-episoder may make up for it.

1. The Big Bang Theory

Hands up anyone who doesn’t like comedy? Well, fark you! Situation comedy doesn’t come any better than this. At one time, I used to think that nothing would top Third Rock From The Sun, but BBT shades it, if only just. Chuck Lorre is a genius, along with Bill Prady and Steven Molaro.

This is a comedy about science which I’m nuts about, and that about wraps it up for me. The cast of Leonard Hofstadter, Sheldon Cooper, Penny, Howard Wolowitz and Raj Koothappali have had me in stitches in every single episode. Geekiness has never looked this appealing.

Sadly I’m nearing the end of viewing season six, and I’m dreading those imminent withdrawal symptoms. I’m holding thumbs for more seasons. Please make it happen writer-producer-network guys.

A special mention goes to The Walking Dead and Homeland. And oh! I’ve just acquired entire series of Spartacus, including the prequel… But I’ve not watched nearly enough yet to make me want to topple anything from the list above. But who knows…

***nonce (n), which I came across in Game of Thrones is an old Middle English word meaning “particular” or “present occasion/instance,” and NOT the British and Australian slang term for sexual offender. 🙂