Watch Goodbye Gemini For Free
Goodbye Gemini
Unnaturally close, jet-setting twins become enmeshed in the Swinging London scene, where their relationship is strained after they befriend a predatory hustler and his girlfriend.
Release : | 1970 |
Rating : | 5.5 |
Studio : | Josef Shaftel Productions, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Production Design, |
Cast : | Judy Geeson Martin Potter Michael Redgrave Alexis Kanner Freddie Jones |
Genre : | Drama Horror Thriller |
Watch Trailer
Cast List
Related Movies
Reviews
Fantastic!
An absolute waste of money
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
Infantile psychotic twins Jacki and Julian (Judy Geeson and Martin Potter) arrive in London, immediately arranging an accident for their grouchy landlady so that they can have the run of the place. The siblings then set about experiencing the swinging London party scene, where they meet louche rogue Clive (Alexis Kanner, sporting some impressive mutton-chops). After Clive is roughed up by a bookmaker to whom he owes £400, he tricks Julian into bed with a pair of transvestites, takes a few photos and proceeds to blackmail the young man. However, instead of getting cash for his troubles, Clive gets knifed in the neck instead.As a child of the '70s, I have an affinity with films from that era, especially those set in the UK, but Goodbye Gemini was a tough one to endure. It's horrible, hippy nonsense that features hedonistic characters hard to sympathise with, atrocious dialogue, and incomprehensible behaviour from all involved. An incestuous relationship between the inseparable twins is hinted at, which adds an edginess to proceedings, the music is groovy, and there are a couple of outrageously camp homosexuals who are mildly amusing (one wears a bright pink shirt and uses the word 'ducky' a lot—you don't get much more '70s than that!), but there really is very little else worthy of mention.
Twins arrive in London on an overnight bus wearing matching fluorescent jackets and clutching a teddy-bear (always a sign of evil). They've not even unpacked their bags before they murder their new landlady and get invited to an inevitably swinging' party. Jacki (Judy Geeson) is the female half of the twins and looks lovely even in the aforementioned garment, which is more than can be said for Julian (Martin Potter). He's the possessive twin who swings both ways and whose love for his sister is less than wholesome. They attend a few parties, talk to their teddy and get mixed up with some menacing Earls Court transvestites, a liaison that leads to blackmail and murder.There's nothing here that can really be called a narrative, it's more like someone thought a swinging London movie with a psycho tilt would be really groovy. However, the film is based upon Ask Agamemnon by Jenni Hall (no, I've never heard of it, either). Despite the wavering storyline it's a strangely compelling film with an admirable wildness. The cast are game, except Michael Redgrave who has the air of an actor unaccustomed to such material. The camera-work from Geoffrey Unsworth is as exceptional as ever, tut the psychotic tone is best summed up by The Peddlers funky theme song: ('when the world comes knocking') Tell The World We're Not In.
Sweet, naive Jacki (a perky and appealing portrayal by the adorable Judy Geeson) and moody, petulant Julian (a solid and effective performance by Martin Potter) are a couple of rich, spoiled, and sheltered fraternal twins who live in their own odd fantasy world and have an extremely close and uneasy symbiotic relationship. Their fragile personal universe gets ripped asunder with dire consequences for everyone when sneaky and ingratiating small-time criminal Clive Landseer (excellently played with devilish charm to spare by Alexis Kanner) attempts to blackmail Julian. Director Alan Gibson and writer Edmund Ward not only offer a funky and flavorsome depiction of the seamy underbelly of the decadent Swingin' Mod London night scene (the soundtrack in particular is appropriately groovy), but also deliver a frank and disturbing exploration of the darker, more unhealthy, and suffocating side of sibling love and loyalty complete with a bold presentation of incest and a stunning sequence in which Jacki and Julian dress up in white bedsheets and challenge Clive to tell them apart. Geeson and Potter display a strong and totally convincing natural chemistry in the lead roles; they receive sturdy support from Michael Redgrave as smooth, kindly politician James Harrington-Smith, Mike Pratt as menacing hoodlum Rod Barstowe, Freddie Jones as pompous, sharp-tongued overaged partygoer David Curry, Marion Diamond as Julian's long-suffering girlfriend Denise Pryce, and Terry Scully as mincing homosexual Nigel Garfield. Kudos are also in order for Geoffrey Unsworth's crisp and vibrant cinematography and Christopher Gunning's sumptuous score. The startling downbeat ending packs a very potent punch. Worth a look.
This is a very decent movie directed by Alan Gibson, who would later become a second-rate Hammer director responsible for such dreck as "Dracula AD 1972" and "The Satanic Rites of Dracula". It features Judy Geeson, at the height of her loveliness, and Martin Potter, one of the pretty-boys from "Fellini's Satyricon", as a pair of seemingly innocent fraternal twins who come to London and are preyed upon by a crowd of jaded hedonists led by a guy named Clive (who sports flaming red mutton-chops and the strangest English accent I have ever heard).Most of the movie resembles a more serious version of Pete Walker's "Cool It, Carol", and probably a more historically accurate one too as far as the Swinging London Era of the 1960's is concerned. The movie then veers into psycho territory, however. The twins have an unusually symbiotic relationship and display some psychopathic tendencies, like playing a nasty prank that causes their landlady to fall down the stairs. In the most memorable scene they dress up in bedsheets with only their eyes showing and challenge Clive to tell them apart. The childish game shockingly winds up with an ornamental sword going through one person's neck and everything unravels from there. Some may find the sheer pathos and the unresolved ambiguity of the end a little frustrating, but it makes for a memorable movie is nothing else.I'd recommend this period because it is genuinely unique movie, but if you like films about Swinging London like "Blow Up" or "Cool It, Carol", or British psycho movies like "Peeping Tom" or "Twisted Nerve" this one should be especially enjoyable