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Gainsbourg review
:. Director: Joann Sfar
:. Starring: Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon
:. Running Time: 2:10
:. Year: 2:10
:. Country: France
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A French music icon, Serge Gainsbourg was both known as a genius songwriter and an astute provocateur. Using a classical-trained background, he penned some of the most haunting and sophisticated pop melodies, which he would enjoy corrupting with sharp and depraved words. With an influence that reaches far beyond the borders of his native France — artists such as Beck, Franz Ferdinand, Jarvis Cocker and The Kills count among his fans — a movie about his life was long overdue, especially as his life was as colorful as his lyrics, having seduced plenty of women, from film star Brigitte Bardot to model/actress/singer Jane Birkin with whom he had a daughter, singer/actress Charlotte Gainsbourg (AntiChrist, IRM).
Mr. Gainsbourg being such a myth, you would have expected a major French director to direct a biopic about his life. It is however newcomer Joann Sfar, an award-winning graphic novel artist, who tackles the subject. Whether or nor you like M. Sfar's take on Mr. Gainsbourg's life — and I did — what the filmmaker understood was that such an extraordinary figure needed something more than a standard biopic. Rather than giving us a well-formatted chronological look at his life, he instead creates his own version of the myth, building a surrealist and non-linear film that also draws elements from the graphic novel universe — most particularly Mr. Gainsbourg alter-ego who follows him everywhere.
While the movie starts with his childhood and follows his path to stardom, elements from his youth are omnipresent in this film, showing us that he not only was an overgrown kid but also that this decisive period of his life shaped the shattered and contrasted man he was. The first part of the film, from childhood to the earlier years as an artist, is the most detailed, offering a character study and uncovering a lesser-known side of his life — most of us probably didn't know he started as a painter.
Once he reaches fame as a musician, the film takes a glitzier turn reflecting his life. We see him write hits and falls into rock star cliché, from bedding countless women to becoming an alcoholic and master provocateur. This is the part of the film that might raise the most debate, depending on how you approach this work. Some might argue that Sfar's fails to address the importance of Mr. Gainsbourg's music, but it is clear that his picture focuses on the man's life, assuming you already know his music; this is probably the most practicable option, as not only most spectators will be familiar with his body of work but understanding the artist's music would require to documented into a film of its own. The other issue spectators might have with the second half of this film is that it is quite superficial, not taking the time to get into the artist's psyche as we mostly see him go from one woman to the other and spiral out of control. While this is certainly true, this shouldn't be approached as a faithful biopic but rather as a pop art piece, the interpretative work of an artist about another artist. The fact that Mr. Sfaar assembled a non-movie star cast — and I'm sure plenty of major actors and actresses would have loved to incarnate these popular figures — that includes a stunning Éric Elmosnino, model/actress Laetitia Casta as Brigitte Bardot and a cameo by singer Philippe Katerine as Boris Vian seems to confirm that assumption. Whether you appreciate this is up to you — I certainly did.
Fred Thom
 French Movies: Reviews 2012 - present
French Films: 1998 - 2011 Reviews
French Music Reviews
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