Cannabis (1974)

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

The title "French Intrigue" is only half right; the film does take place mostly in France, but it is very un-intriguing. According to IMDb, this was Pierre Koralnik's second directorial effort; I don't know if he improved later on, but at this point he absolutely could not direct: the film is very poorly put together, with an almost complete lack of basic transition shots. The script is incoherent and uninteresting. Serge Gainsbourg is supposed to be on a drug-busting mission, but he looks as if he was on drugs himself when this was made! Occasional nudity by Jane Birkin is the film's only redeeming virtue, but I'd still suggest that you avoid "French Intrigue" at all costs. * out of 4.

Jane Birkin is supposed to be this girl from a good background but we know it just because the cop (Gabrielle "Avventura" Ferzetti) tells us so.The film was produced by Andrée Debar ,an actress of the fifties who had a strange androgynous look.Why she stopped acting remains a mystery as why Serge Gainsbourg stopped singing and writing to play such a poor part in a hackneyed movie.At least he wrote the score and the cast and credits song,which are much too good for a director who leaves his actors to their own devices."This is not a movie about drugs " a line reads at the beginning ;it's a love film,an action-packed film...As far as the love film is concerned ,we have good-looking Jane Birkin naked every ten minutes;as for the action,highlights are ,so to speak,a chase on the roof of the opera -without a phantom- and a massacre in a chicken farm."Cannabis " is a relic of the late sixties,which would be forgotten,weren't it for the legendary Birkin/Gainsbourg lovers who fortunately knew better times.

They made a lots of crime movies like this in the 60's. The script (if there is any) hasn't given much thought and is full of holes. The characters are empty and stupid, there are always drugs involved and at least one party scene full of grass smoking messed up hippies. Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg spend most of the time kissing and touching each other while the other "gangster" is just fooling around. From time to time, police is trying to catch them with zero results. Acting is bad and the dialog is ridiculous. However, there are still some nice shots in it and the soundtrack (composed by Gainsbourg) is fantastic and that is a reason enough to check out this piece of crap.

This movie had a lot of potential: a great cast including Curd Juergens, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, and outstanding qualities in cinematography and editing. I have seen few films with so many intense close-ups and surprising cuts. Unfortunately, the movie has no story to tell. It is just another gangster movie with everybody being everybody else's enemy. "Cannabis" could have become a weird, more outrageous, experimental and revolutionary version of Melville's "Le Samourai", but the movie ends up as a failure, albeit a visually stunning one.