I LOVE YOU, I DON'T

A frail and love-starved young woman, Johnny (Jane Birkin), works in a truckstop café in the middle of nowhere. One day two gay truckers enter, manly and worldwise Krassky (Joe Dallesandro) and his younger lover Padovan (Hugues Quester). Padovan is young and handsome, but immature and rather a handful.

Krassky, tired of taking care of Padovan, who keeps getting into trouble, discovers in himself an attraction for this boyish girl. She in turn falls head over heels for him. They start a relationship; though Krassky hesitates before the meager feminine graces of curveless Johnny, he ends up being charmed by her naïve and unconditional love.

She is willing to accept anything out of love for him, including anal sex. Although inexperienced at this, so that her screams of pain cause them to be thrown out of several motels. In the end, the back of Krassky's dirty garbage truck will be the theatre of their union.

Furiously jealous, Padovan tries to kill Johnny by suffocating her. Krassky intervenes and saves Johnny, but does it so casually that Johnny gets enraged and insults him. Krassky then returns to his first love and leaves with him, abandoning Johnny to her café, brokenhearted and lonely once again.

Krassky ultimately abandons Johnny to return to his original lover, Padovan, leaving Johnny heartbroken and alone at the café.

The ending underscores the film's bleak view of love and belonging: Johnny's willingness to endure anything for love is met with indifference, and Krassky's indecision leaves everyone unfulfilled. Gainsbourg refuses any easy romantic resolution, instead highlighting the raw pain of unrequited affection and the cyclical loneliness of his characters. The film closes by returning Johnny to her starting point, emotionally battered but unchanged, emphasizing the tragic futility of her pursuit.