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00:00 [music]
00:30 She was an icon here in France and also in the UK.
00:34 Jane Birkin, who has died aged 76 here in Paris,
00:37 was a star of many movies, dozens of them, and sang many songs.
00:42 She was an activist. She was a trans-setter. She was a free spirit.
00:46 The tributes in France have included one from President Macron
00:50 saying she was a French icon because she embodied freedom
00:53 and sang the most beautiful words in the French language.
00:57 She was a complete artist, he says.
01:00 For more on this star of Britain and France,
01:04 let's go to Paola Giannoni, a journalist at Le Figaro.
01:08 Bonsoir.
01:11 Hello to you, Paola.
01:14 Bonsoir.
01:15 So, this Sunday, in a sense, many people in mourning
01:20 for what is a great star of France and the UK.
01:23 What tributes have you seen on this side of the channel?
01:28 Well, there are tributes of every genre,
01:35 from the cinema world, from the music world, from the fashion world,
01:40 from the activist world, and from people, just people.
01:46 Because Jane Birkin was magnificent.
01:50 I have met her many times and had the pleasure to interview her.
01:55 And she was, as President Macron said, she was an icon.
01:59 She was vision, she was sound, and she was style.
02:05 Her charm laid both in her image, in her beauty,
02:10 and in the sound of her voice.
02:13 She was extremely beautiful.
02:15 She was unbridled in her stand, slender as a vine,
02:18 and she could be extremely feminine and sometimes boyish,
02:22 dressed in a strict white shirt and a black man's pants.
02:27 She was elegant, in one word.
02:29 An icon like Marilyn, like Audrey Hepburn.
02:33 Which is funny, because she was mocked for her looks.
02:37 When she was young, at school, her classmates named her half-caste,
02:43 because she was boy and girl at the same time.
02:45 Very contemporary character.
02:48 And her voice was a saviour.
02:50 It was delicate, strange, with this British accent.
02:54 When she was speaking in French, and this stayed until the end.
03:01 It was really a big charm.
03:05 For British people and for many people around the world,
03:08 it's going to be that duet with Serge Gainsbourg in 1969
03:12 that really brought her to world attention.
03:15 The song "Je t'aime, moi non plus",
03:18 so a kind of bittersweet rivalry between the pair,
03:21 who actually married for 13 years and divorced, but remained friends.
03:27 What do you think her association is with that song,
03:33 and is it to do with a revolutionary spirit,
03:36 a kind of pioneering role in just living your life,
03:40 the kind of 60s, free flower power kind of thing?
03:43 Absolutely, because when she met Serge Gainsbourg,
03:48 she met Serge Gainsbourg doing a movie with him, and "Slogan".
03:54 And on the set, Serge Gainsbourg was at first hostile to her,
04:02 and then they fell madly in love.
04:04 But as you say, they were both very unconventional.
04:08 But not because they didn't know what it was like to be conventional,
04:15 because they were both very well brought up.
04:18 They knew the rules, but they decided to create their own rules.
04:23 And this was at the same time, of course, the swing in London.
04:29 They were going with a whole thing that was happening in the world.
04:39 But they had their own particular way.
04:42 And of course, as you said, one of the most important songs, iconic songs,
04:49 is "Je t'aime, moi non plus", this world's words,
04:53 "Je t'aime, je viens, entre-terrain",
04:55 which at that time, you know, it was '69, could not have been said.
05:01 It was the year of eroticism, and it caused a scandal.
05:06 And actually, Gainsbourg had asked Brigitte Bardot to record it first,
05:14 and then she refused to let the song be released,
05:18 because she was married at the time.
05:20 So Jane Birkin was a very interesting woman,
05:25 because she was very discreet, she was shy.
05:28 As Gainsbourg, she was not, she was a star,
05:32 but she didn't have anything to do with a typical character of a star.
05:38 And she took risks, and they took risks together.
05:42 And this is maybe why they are so touching,
05:46 because she saw the genius in Serge Gainsbourg,
05:49 and he saw the talent in her, in Jane Birkin.
05:54 And this couple is absolutely marvelous, it makes us dream.
06:00 Of course, there was Gainsbourg, as you know,
06:04 the other side of Gainsbourg, so maybe not everything was so easy.
06:10 But there are songs, extraordinary songs,
06:14 not just "Je t'aime, moi non plus", but albums like "Lolita Go Home",
06:19 "Baby Alone in Babylon", songs like "Ballade de John McCain", extraordinary.
06:26 Thank you so much, Paola Giannoni, for your tribute to her,
06:31 this extraordinary artist, Jane Birkin, who has died, aged 76, here in Paris.
06:36 Thank you, Paola Giannoni, Le Figaro journalist.