Serge Gainsbourg was an original. In fact, he has more claim to the word than most of the men to whom it’s been attached lately. It’s hard even to describe the work of the French singer-songwriter-actor-director to those who haven’t heard or seen any of it — though everyone of a certain age most certainly has. He began his career performing jazz and writing chansons. He moved into pop, rock, funk, New Wave, electronica and reggae. He even helped invent a genre, ye-ye, writing songs for teenagers such as France Gall. Notoriously, he wrote the innocent singer a song, “Lollipops,” filled with double entendres.
Such a life is one made for the movies. Finally, 20 years after his death, an ambitious biopic has arrived. It’s as surprising and unconventional as the man himself — but that doesn’t mean it serves him well.
