Venues
Events
VideoFilm
Exploring the Life of Serge Gainsbourg
New Biopic Follows French ’60’s Singer-Songwriter Serge Gainsbourg
I often find myself pondering the difference between a film and a “Hollywood Blockbuster”. For all the escapists of the world, they both allow a perfect time period where you can mentally check out and peer into someone else’s life. When it comes to blockbusters however, you can never gain the full experience. They do not allow you to become fully immersed into another’s story. The majority of these overly franchised movies tend to look into merely one facet, one scenario, or one brief period of time. In Hollywood flicks such as these, its as easy to get lost in the high speed chases as it is the dull cinematography.
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life certainly does not fall into this category. With a true respect and knowledge of art, director Joann Sfar delivers a classic film. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life presents quite an alternative and remarkably refreshing style of film. As a biopic, the film follows the life of famed French ’60’s singer-songwriter, Serge Gainsbourg. For those who may not know, Gainsbourg is not only a treasure to France, but a notorious man of mystery.
Any film that takes place in a foreign setting tends to boast a background of intrigue and secrecy. Paris is certainly no exception. For centuries, this city has possessed an incredibly renowned fairytale complexity. Paris is the perfect backdrop and perhaps the catalyst for the dark and glamorous life of Serge Gainsbourg.
When it came to directors, who better to capture the surreal and enchanting life of a man such as Serge Gainsbourg than a graphic novelist? As a man of many talents, Joann Sfar uses his skills as a graphic novelist to bring a fresh and exotic style to tell the story of Gainsbourg’s life.
The film follows Serge’s life beginning with his childhood in Nazi-occupied Paris. Growing up was a darker time for Serge. As the child of Russian-Jewish immigrants, Serge was labeled an outsider. However, life turned around for Serge as he discovered his love for music and the performing arts. The film follows Serge into more glamorous and risqué times, starting with his early years as a painter and jazz musician. His life moved in various directions as he played in cabarets. There he sported lavish attire and behaved in ways that would suggest he had dual personalities. He then moved on to cinema as both a composer and an actor. He wrote many pieces during the 60’s that are now considered classics. While at first his music was misunderstood, the late 60’s began to bring him success after success.
His unconventional personality and fame spurred a European love affair with Gainsbourg. This infatuation clearly garnered him a lot of attention as he was famously connected to some of the world’s most glamorous women such as Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birken, and Juliette Greco.
Much to the delight of the Gainsbourg family, the film expertly captures Serge’s over the top behavior and extravagant lifestyle without defaming him. Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life masterly chronicles the ever evolving and incredible life of Serge Gainsbourg up until his death in 1991. Sfar’s unique style captures the fact that this man of many faces lived a surreal life that is in many ways, its own graphic novel.
Opening in August