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.
| ONSCREEN |
| ‘Gainsbourg’ |
| » Rating: 2.5 out of 4 stars |
| » Stars: Eric Elmosnino, Kacey Mottet Klein, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta |
| » Director: Joann Sfar |
| » Rated: Not rated |
| » Running time: 122 minutes |
Joann Sfar assembled some of the best talent in France today for his film: Eric Elmosnino, Laetitia Casta, Anna Mouglalis, Sara Forestier; even director Claude Chabrol has a small role. They’re all utterly charming. And young Kacey Mottet Klein is astonishing as the child, Lucien Ginsburg, who became the star Serge Gainsbourg.
“I’m wiser than my years,” that young boy says, before launching into a rendition of a bawdy chanson in a Paris cafe. He’s there with a stunning model he picked up in painting class, who can’t resist humoring him with a date. His Russian-Jewish immigrant father insists the boy practice piano; but he imagines he’ll grow up to be a famous painter.
He ended up something bigger than either man could imagine. If the story behind “Gainsbourg” weren’t real, we wouldn’t believe it. “Don’t you think I lack … stage presence?” an adult — but not yet grown up — Gainsbourg asks a friend. “Yes,” the man agrees. “It’s clear it pisses you off.” But the inventive artist Serge Gainsbourg might never have been born had he been comfortable within convention.
We see a full life here, including his fruitful years with Jane Birkin, portrayed with grace by British model-actress Lucy Gordon, who shockingly took her own life before this film was released. Yet there’s something missing from the film. Or perhaps it’s that there’s too much in it: Sfar, who based the film on a series of comic books he wrote, puts a puppet, meant to represent the musician’s darker side, into many scenes. It’s a bizarre gimmick, and one that’s not necessary — Gainsbourg’s improbable life was plenty strange enough.
