The Girl on a Motorcycle

Rating:
Summary: Fun old-school trippy euro camp
Review: This is NOT a really good film. It IS amusing and entertaining. The motorcycle scenes are not blue screened, which helps a lot. Marianne Faithful, a former Mick Jagger lover, stars in this, and there are a few naked shots, but nothing to write home about by todays standards. Certainly not enough to earn an "X" rating as it did on release in the US. The sound is nice for mono, and the Harley actually sounds like a Harley, something that you do not always get in movies. There is a lot of pshycadelic footage that may have been really trippy in the 60s, but looks really dated today.

Ms. Faithful is acceptable as an actress, with a running voice-over through much of the film. She isn't great however, and some of the lines make me laugh. When she takes off to go see her lover and cheat on wimpy hubby (think Satan's lover Chris from South Park), she starts the Harley and yells, "I turn myself on!" When I'm riding my own bikes around, this sometimes pops into my head and I yell it out loud (ONLY if wearing a full face helmet) and crack myself up.

There are some nice touches. The film is shot very dark while The Girl is in France where she lives with her husband, but once she enters her lover's country, Germany, everything becomes much more vivid and beautiful. There is also one nice 360 shot of The Girl on the motorcycle. Not exactly Matrix, but still, at least they tried.

The pacing is a little slow, and it seems to last longer than its running time. Its one of those movies (not films) where you can read a magazine while you watch. If you take Girl on a Motorcycle for what it is - a fun but dated movie from the 60s - it is a nice enough diversion. Compared to better films, even Easy Rider, it is less compelling.