Sorry, this movie sucks

Sick Product of a Sick System

Let's be realistic.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

You can bet some of the high votes came from seeing Marianne Faithful's boobs as well as her in a skin-tight leather outfit.One person who reviewed this on IMDb said it was horrible that Alain Delon got top billing when Marianne should have. Really. And you think funding and distribution for this movie would have been obtained without the name Alain Delon as the star? Doubt it.A woman, Rebecca (Faithful), engaged to be married, falls in love with a man, Daniel (Delon) who frequents her father's (Marius Goring) bookstore. For a wedding gift, he gives her a motorcycle, which she uses to go to Germany to visit him. It means she has to travel a good distance to Heidelberg. While on the motorcycle - which is 3/4 of the film, she reminiscences and has a psychedelic experience as well as an orgasmic one. As far as nudity - yes, there was that from Marianne and some, though not what I would have liked, from Alain. Erotic love scenes? Not really and I, frankly, was mightily disappointed. At one point when they made love the screen turned psychedelic red. You saw nothing. Disappointing.This film is for motorcycle enthusiasts and people who remember the swinging '60s and Marianne Faithful. Jack Cardiff, a famous cinematographer, directed it, and I can tell you the scenery is incredible, beautifully photographed, though some of the interior shots were way too dark.Some of the film is funny today, it rip offs Easy Rider, and it tries to make a point about freedom and free love. Marianne is certainly beautiful, so it will have appeal for some people.

The 1960s brought some very interesting films--especially with society's changing mores. Some of these untraditional stories were very successful (such as "Bonnie and Clyde", "Rosemary's Baby". "Tom Jones" and "The Graduate") and some were just downright silly (such as ALL the films about LSD). "The Girl on a Motorcycle" is clearly one of these unsuccessful films that runs from traditional structure and morality but doesn't work because the plot is paper-thin and the characters are just as deep. It's a curious curio--but nothing more.The film begins with a young bride stealing her husband's motorcycle and driving across Europe to meet a lover in Germany. Along the way, she takes off her clothes with little provocation, makes love and just lives for the moment and for her own desires. Why does she do all this? You assume she's just an immature jerk, that's why! No real depth--just a pretty but thoroughly unlikeable lady 'doing her thing'. And, in a case of self-indulgence on the director's part, you see lots of psychedelic colors (for no apparent reason) from time to time.I really don't think the film was designed at all for the average person--and they probably never would have sat through this thing. My feeling is that it was meant to be a fusion--a film for the hippies and artsy types. As I said, it's a curio but not a film most folks would particularly enjoy. As for me, I may be crazy, but I like a modicum of depth to the films I watch. Heck, this film has LESS depth than a Sylvester Stallone flick!All in all, a waste of a good motorcycle and even the occasional glimpses of the star naked aren't enough to keep this interesting!

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!

I'm a sucker for swinging 60's era flicks, even cheesy ones (because of the great visuals), but I had heard that this film was very so unwatchably BAD that I never made it a priority on my mod movie flicks list. So I am REALLY glad that it popped up on cable just as I was flipping the channels. The story is okay (not great, but not a disaster), the dialog is a little rough at times but not awful, and the tragic ending was a little on the Russ Meyers side. But Marianne Faithful is just STUNNING throughout the movie (any of today's Hollywood starlets WISH they had an ounce of her natural beauty and on-screen presence), Alain Delon is a stone fox, and the dreamy flashbacks provide enough of a plot to make this film, dare I say, enjoyable:) Needless to say, not only was I thrilled I caught it on cable, but I was equally pleased to have stumbled upon it TWICE in one week. Definitely adding the DVD to my retro movie collection.