hyped garbage

Absolutely Brilliant!

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Lucien 'Serge' Ginsburg is an odd-looking imaginative Jewish boy. In Nazi-occupied Paris, he is the first to get the yellow star of David before the office even opens. His unrelenting flirting charms the ladies despite his young age. After the war, he played piano like his father and later gained success with his original songs. There are his many loves, a short affair with Brigitte Bardot, and a longer one with Jane Birkin. Jane becomes the mother of Charlotte Gainsbourg. Through it all, there is always the surreal figure of a caricature Serge.I don't know anything about Serge Ginsburg. His childhood seems interesting and got me locked in during the first act. His turn into adulthood is less compelling and his life story becomes messier and messier. His love life may be interesting for dropping the Bardot name. The surreal character is interesting at first but the movie does become chaotic.

###### Might contain spoilers ######### I personally found the portrayal of decay one of the most impressive features in the movie. The character's fall naturally depicts the transition of the haute-couture from the war-years, which was yet a reminiscence of Golden Era, yet with a little less social exclusion, towards the chaotic and disturbing culture the re-building process in the post-war years.You can see it first in the transition of the protagonist's manners, which change from subliminally provocative in childhood towards openly ironic during the time spent with Brigitte Bardot - every attempt to remain sincere and "ernst" during this time must have been felt as a facre - , towards unreflected vulgar anti-everything proclamations you see in the re-make of the sex-driven song and the years after.Also, you can see it in the changing clothing, which slowly progresses and finally finds its point of no return when Gainsborg finds his British wife. First of all, it's the inter-national coupling, which of course introduces compromises on all sides, and which also makes him send away his visage, which is basically a symbol of his genius overall. What he sends away is the normed cultural knowledge he gained as an aspiring French intellectual. Accepting to embrace the then more inter-national culture, he becomes basically a perverse anti-hero which resembles the Proustian portray of Bloch. While he learns and transcends the inter-disciplinary approach towards the new culture, he becomes a torn-apart individual and ultimately an outsider for both the French and the British society, in which he lives, becoming truly an international cultural outlaw. (The first hint at his outlaw status is the rejection of his song written for Brigitte) So, his clothes change towards what you would think a typical drug-addicted rock-n-roll star outfit and has not the slightest scent of culture and style left. He resembles a little bit the latest pictures found on Dylan.But most interestingly is the attempt to relate this final breakdown with the his experience of WW2, something that is dominantly present in the scenes where he performs the Marseillese. You see that subconsciously, he still is haunted by his past, and while his embracement of earlier haute-couture allowed him to feel at home and at peace somehow with his country and intellectual background, the emergence of a new form of pop culture - loud clubs where electronic music is played, an Asian looking girl friend, a ton of Garbage art on his estate -, you can see that this last piece of hope and divinity, which he found in the art of chanson writing, falls apart and leaves him with nothing left than ruins.The entire biopic hence deals somehow with the cultural breakdown of the entire society due to the rebuilding process of post-war Europe, and the massive dilution of cultural products across borders, and the end of self-consciousness it introduces with itself.The last dignity, initially spared by the war experience and conserved in the intellectual networks of Paris, vanishes. And even worse, he probably experienced to have contributed to this mess. When the Asian looking girl comes straight to the point asking if he wanted to "fuck" her, while he was still trying to frame his intentions more elaborately as a gentleman, he must have ultimately realized that everything was over. He was not even part of the outlaw movement anymore. He was just some random individual that was perceived as following its most primal instincts. At that point, he say "NO. Don't you dare to leave." Another point of no return.Yes, because there he was. An alcoholic, post-intellectual and vulgar individual. What was left to do, but to escape everything and forget about what he once deemed important by making another baby and becoming a family man after all. The rage and violence have vanished in the final scenes, simply because anything that he could rage about was dead.Apart from that, as already mentioned, the film was catchy, atmospheric and somewhat epic.

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 .

A film "should always have a beginning, a middle and an end but not necessarily in this order" declared Jean Luc Godard. Yoan Sfar grabs this motto with both hands in his biopic of legendary artist Serge Gainsbourg. His film is quirky, light fun and captivating. The visuals take reference and influence from Pan's Labyrinth, Luis Bunnuel and Lewis Carol. Still, there is a very personal flair and the mark of a future visionary film maker as important as Jean Pierre Jeunet. Yoan Sfar is clearly in awe of the subject and by surfacing the rich, complex and probably excessive life of Serge Gainsbourg, he manages to make light of a troubled artist. The acting is top-notch from everyone involved, Anna Mouglalis as sultry Juliette Greco to Laetitia Casta as the one and only Brigitte Bardot and not to forget Lucy Gordon (who tragically died shortly after the film wrapped)as vulnerable Jane Birkin. Eric Elmosnino is utterly convincing as Serge, capturing ticks and manners we french are so familiar with from Serge Gainsbourg. The man's artistry is beyond doubt and there isn't a media that Serge Gainsbourg touched that didn't turn into a creative gold pot. This is paid tribute to very well here, both in terms of cinematic language and the content of the film. I was kept fascinated, absorbed and amused even if I disagreed with a few story plots, for example, I am not sure France Gall had any idea what she was singing about with "les sucettes (Lollipops) until the song had been a hit and she refused to leave her own flat for months after because she was so ashamed by the true meaning of the song, although the film suggests Serge asking her if he can write a kinky song for her. But all the same, we, as stimulated spectators, cannot help but concede to the fact that 5 other films could be made on the legend that Serge Gainsbourg was, not one would get to the core of the real man. So treat this film as a personal homage from a fan and watch it purely for entertainment value. A good idea after could be to grab a glass of red, sit down, "Youtube" Serge Gainsbourg and enjoy the ride...