Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010)
"Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque)" (original title)

A glimpse at the life of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris through his successful song-writing years in the 1960s to his death in 1991 at the age of 62.

Director:

Joann Sfar

Writers:

Joann Sfar (graphic novel), Joann Sfar (screenplay)

Stars:

Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta

6 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eric Elmosnino	...	Serge Gainsbourg / Voix de La Gueule
Lucy Gordon	...	Jane Birkin
Laetitia Casta	...	Brigitte Bardot
Doug Jones	...	La Gueule
Anna Mouglalis	...	Juliette Gréco
Mylène Jampanoï	...	Bambou
Sara Forestier	...	France Gall
Kacey Mottet Klein	...	Lucien Ginsburg
Razvan Vasilescu	...	Joseph Ginsburg (le père)
Dinara Drukarova	...	Olga Ginsburg (la mère) (as Dinara Droukarova)
Philippe Katerine	...	Boris Vian
Deborah Grall	...	Elisabeth Levizky
Yolande Moreau	...	Fréhel
Ophélia Kolb	...	Le Modèle
Claude Chabrol	...	Le Producteur Musique de Gainsbourg

Storyline

Lucien Ginsburg, a rebellious French Jewish boy with a grotesque imagination, hates playing the piano like his father, a bar professional, and manages to be admitted to Montmartre Academy as painter, where he befriends an SS officer who helps him survive he occupation. After the war, he chooses to become a performing artist and adopts the stage name Serge Gainsbourg. His unorthodox songs bring him success, even his parents's approval, and lots of lovers, yet his marriages are all utter failures.

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Plot Keywords:

singer | 1960s | painting | animated credits | lying down in the middle of a street | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | Music

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Details

Official Sites:

Music Box Films [us] Official site [de]

Country:

France

Language:

French English Russian

Release Date:

20 January 2010 (France)

Also Known As:

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

Filming Locations:

Quais de la Seine, Paris, France

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$25,189 (USA) (2 September 2011)

Gross:

$230,311 (USA) (9 December 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

One World Films, Studio 37, Universal Pictures International (UPI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min 122 min (recut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene in the film where Serge Gainsbourg asks France Gall if she would like him to write her a 'dirty song' and then describes a song about a girl who loves sucking lollipops references the song "Les Sucettes" which he wrote for Gall in 1966. France Gall didn't initially understand the lyric's double-meanings and was appalled when it was pointed out after the song's widespread popularity and still refuses to sing it to this day.

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Goofs

The young Gainsbourg is shown drawing left-handed, but the adult Gainsbourg becomes right-handed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lucien Ginsburg: Can I put your hand in mine?
Girl: No, you're too ugly.

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Connections

Featured in De wereld draait door: Episode #5.128 (2010)

User Reviews

This is a lively and inventive bio-pic, if a little over long .

This is a film that makes no bones about the ultimate squandering of Serge Gainsbourg's talents in a drink - induced decline but at the same time shows the creative and cultural force that his very surname still brings to mind for most French people . The movie brings out particularly well the smoky atmosphere of jazz clubs and gigs where the young Serge first plied his musicality in the 1950s. The phases of his life, from young Jewish boy in occupied France through his creative life and personal life ( for instance )amours with such as Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin in the 1960s are dizzily but effectively handled . There is some attempt by Director Sfar to portray Gainsbourg , in late career , as something of an anti- intolerance man of principle but the overall impression given is of an imaginative , somewhat amoral figure whose life was ultimately an example of artistic decline and hedonistic self-indulgence . The film is rather long but, overall , sustains interest well . The main roles are all played well by the actors ,including the female leads Laetitia Casta and the late Lucy Gordon , and the cartoon - like features of the movie , such as Serge's giant alter-ego , impressionistically contribute something positive to the story . Viewers from Anglophone countries who will best remember Gainsbourg as the singing half of the 1969 heavy- breathing pop hit " Je t'aime moi non plus " may still leave the cinema wondering what really was the artistic importance of Serge . Yet they will nonetheless , on the strength of this bio-pic , carry away an image of the principal character as an unforgettable personality .French people , on the other hand , who already regard him as a cultural icon and , in their terms ,as a genius will not need this movie to make up their minds about Serge Gainsbourg .