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The Girl on a Motorcycle

  • 1968
  • R
  • 1h 31m
IMDb RATING
5.3/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
Alain Delon and Marianne Faithfull in The Girl on a Motorcycle (1968)
A married woman leaves her husband and zooms off on her motorcycle to see her lover.
Play trailer0:44
1 Video
99+ Photos
Dark RomancePsychological DramaSteamy RomanceTragedyTragic RomanceDramaRomance

A married woman leaves her husband and zooms off on her motorcycle to see her lover.A married woman leaves her husband and zooms off on her motorcycle to see her lover.A married woman leaves her husband and zooms off on her motorcycle to see her lover.

  • Director
    • Jack Cardiff
  • Writers
    • André Pieyre de Mandiargues
    • Ronald Duncan
    • Jack Cardiff
  • Stars
    • Marianne Faithfull
    • Alain Delon
    • Roger Mutton
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.3/10
    2.9K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jack Cardiff
    • Writers
      • André Pieyre de Mandiargues
      • Ronald Duncan
      • Jack Cardiff
    • Stars
      • Marianne Faithfull
      • Alain Delon
      • Roger Mutton
    • 59User reviews
    • 48Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 0:44
    Trailer

    Photos129

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    Top cast21

    Edit
    Marianne Faithfull
    Marianne Faithfull
    • Rebecca
    Alain Delon
    Alain Delon
    • Daniel
    Roger Mutton
    • Raymond
    Marius Goring
    Marius Goring
    • Rebecca's father
    Catherine Jourdan
    Catherine Jourdan
    • Catherine
    Jean Leduc
    • Jean
    Jacques Marin
    Jacques Marin
    • Pump Attendant
    André Maranne
    André Maranne
    • French Superintendent…
    Bari Jonson
    • French Customs Officer
    • (as Bari Johnson)
    Arnold Diamond
    Arnold Diamond
    • French Customs Officer
    John G. Heller
    John G. Heller
    • German Customs Officer
    Marika Rivera
    • German Waitress
    Richard Blake
    • 1st Student
    Chris Williams
    • 2nd Student
    • (as Christopher Williams)
    Colin West
    • 3rd Student
    Kit Williams
    • 4th Student
    Robert Rietty
    Robert Rietty
    • Of two roles
    • (voice)
    Stephanie Mildenhall
    • Child
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Jack Cardiff
    • Writers
      • André Pieyre de Mandiargues
      • Ronald Duncan
      • Jack Cardiff
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews59

    5.32.9K
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    Featured reviews

    5philipr09

    Daft, yet oddly haunting...

    Outwardly straightforward stuff: Ms Faithful simpers inanely and tries to look like Suzi Quatro (in the roadside bar scene, anyhow) while she holds a tedious deliberation on the relative merits of her lukewarm, downtrodden schoolteacher husband (Mutton -literally!) vs her rather friskier, piped- up college lecturer lover (Delon, looking strangely like a young Ewan McGregor). All this during a dawn bike ride on a Harley that probably once belonged to Noah. Jack Cardiff pulls this off with aplomb, and stretches the thin material over a flashback/fantasy-forward laden narrative until it becomes transparent, allowing a glimpse through to the dreamlike nature of desire, longing and the futility of trying to control them. Of its time, but by no means the worst of its time, and it sort of stays with you longer than it should. Love the cheesy opening credits!
    7MOscarbradley

    Weird enough to be of more than passing interest.

    Cult movies don't come much 'cultier' than "The Girl on a Motorcycle". This film was British in name only; fundamentally it was French through and through from its source novel, (La Motocyclette by Andre Pieyre de Mandiargues), to its leading actor, Alain Delon. Pop singer Marianne Faithful, naked but for a black leather jump suit, was really only standing in for Bardot. There's no real plot to speak of but there's a lot of sixties psychedelia, sex, nudity, cheesy dialogue (Your body is like a violin in a velvet case), and, of course, Faithful tearing along the highways and byways of Europe on a big, phallic motorbike to the bed of her lover, Delon.

    The director was a somewhat unlikely Jack Cardiff whose superb cinematography also gives the film its texture. Faithful's non- performance is really rather appealing while the film itself is ripe for rediscovery. It's not actually very good but it's certainly weird enough to be of more than passing interest.
    nobita

    Girl on a stage prop!

    What annoyed me about this film was the fact that Alain Delon got top billing for the movie, which is somewhat unfair to Marianne Faithfull seeing as though Alain Delon is only in the film for a collective 40 mins.

    But despite that small annoyance, the film is very interesting, but I do believe I say that out of sympathy. The film basically follows Marianne Faithfully on a large motorcycle, which does look like a shocking studio prop a lot of the time, through Alsace to Heidleberg in Germany, to meet up with her motorcycle lover Alain Delon. The story of their relationship is told via flashbacks which is told through flashbacks which are then told through flashbacks etc.

    On the whole the film was a daring 1960's movie which aimed at showing raunchy sex scenes through hip psychedelic camera shots and just general 60'sness, if you know what I mean.

    It won't be great cinematic viewing (although the shots of Marianne Faithfull bouncing around on a motocycle in nothing but a leather catsuit is somewhat great!) But the movie will offer you something different that you don't see everyday.
    macnemo

    This Girl is a Wild Ride!

    Rebecca (Marianne Faithfull), a dissatisfied and restless young woman prone to talking to herself way too much leaves her boring, effete schoolteacher husband ("You never do what you want to do, only what you ought to do.") and hits the road from France to Germany to be with her more virile Swiss lover Daniel (Alain Delon).

    If you dig cult cinema; the 60s when free love was happening, Baby; and an offbeat, erotic story told in a visually dazzling and kinetic fashion, then this Girl on a Motorcycle offers you a wild, sexy trip through her far-out mind that I think you'll definitely dig! Hop on and go for a spin, Daddy!
    5Rhealist

    Interesting as a period piece, not as a movie

    First off, the video I saw claims to be the uncut version; this wasn't the heavily censored version released in North America (not that much of it would be cut today.)

    The most interesting thing about this movie is how typical it is of the 60s - from the psychedelic effects to the long-winded talk about freedom.

    It's also an hypocritical movie, in a way - while using nudity and strong sexual imagery, the film is a thinly-disguised attack on the 60s concept of freedom and "free love". This is a film that simultaneously tries to use the freedom ideal of the 60s and to criticize that ideal.

    The director is best-known as a cinematographer, and it shows; while the film is very shallow in terms of plot and message, the cinematography is often brilliant.

    Rating: worth seeing for historical reasons, not on its own merits.

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    Related interests

    Kim Min-hee and Kim Tae-ri in The Handmaiden (2016)
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    Romance

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      A German woman who was a Playboy centerfold was originally cast as Rebecca, but was let go after she had a drug overdose. Marianne Faithfull was subsequently cast in the lead.
    • Goofs
      In close shots Rebecca and her motorbike stay vertical even going around corners, revealing the fact that she was probably on a trailer being towed behind the camera.
    • Quotes

      Rebecca: Rebellion is the only thing that keeps you alive!

    • Crazy credits
      The word "Customs" in the end credits is repeatedly and incorrectly written as "Custom's" (with an apostrophe).
    • Alternate versions
      Originally released as "The Girl on a Motorcycle" and X-rated; later trimmed and re-released as "Naked Under Leather".
    • Connections
      Featured in Étoiles et toiles: Le cinéma du rock (1983)
    • Soundtracks
      Girl On A Motorcycle
      Composed and arranged by Les Reed

      Performed by The British Lion Orchestra conducted by Douglas Gamley

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    FAQ15

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • June 21, 1968 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • United Kingdom
      • France
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • La chica de la motocicleta
    • Filming locations
      • Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
    • Production companies
      • Arès Productions
      • Mid-Atlantic Film (Holdings)
      • British Lion Film Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 31m(91 min)
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.66 : 1

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