Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
| Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life | |
|---|---|
| File:PosterGainsbourgbiopic.jpg
Promotional poster
|
|
| Directed by | Joann Sfar |
| Produced by |
|
| Written by | Joann Sfar |
| Starring | Eric Elmosnino Lucy Gordon Laetitia Casta Doug Jones Mylène Jampanoï Anna Mouglalis Yolande Moreau Sara Forestier Philippe Katerine Claude Chabrol |
| Music by | Olivier Daviaud |
| Cinematography | Guillaume Schiffman |
| Edited by | Maryline Monthieux |
| Distributed by | Universal Pictures (France) Optimum Releasing (UK) |
|
Release dates
|
<templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
|
Running time
|
130 minutes[1] |
| Country |
|
| Language | French |
| Budget | $14 million |
| Box office | $19.4 million[2] |
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is a 2010 French drama film written and directed by Joann Sfar, based on his graphic novel. It is a biopic of French singer Serge Gainsbourg.
Plot
The film follows notorious musician Serge Gainsbourg's exploits from his upbringing in Nazi occupied France through his rise to fame and love affairs with Juliette Gréco, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin to his later experimentation with reggae in Jamaica. It also incorporates multiple elements of fantasy, most significantly with the character called "The Mug", an animated exaggeration of Gainsbourg that acts as his conscience (or anti-conscience) at crucial moments in Gainsbourg's life. The film also includes many of Gainsbourg's more famous songs, which serve as the soundtrack to the film and often serve as plot elements themselves.
Cast
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Eric Elmosnino | Serge Gainsbourg |
| Lucy Gordon | Jane Birkin |
| Laetitia Casta | Brigitte Bardot |
| Doug Jones | La Gueule (Gainsbourg's mug) |
| Deborah Grall | Lise Levitzky |
| Mylène Jampanoï | Bambou (Caroline von Paulus) |
| Anna Mouglalis | Juliette Gréco |
| Yolande Moreau | Fréhel |
| Sara Forestier | France Gall |
| Philippe Katerine | Boris Vian |
| Philippe Duquesne | Lucky Sarcelles |
| François Morel | The Boarding's Director |
| Claude Chabrol | Gainsbourg's Music Producer |
| Ophélia Kolb | The Model |
| Kacey Mottet Klein | young Serge Gainsbourg (Lucien Ginsburg) |
Notes
- Lucy Gordon committed suicide while the film was in post-production, and it is dedicated to her.[3][4]
Critical reviews
The film received mixed reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 73% of 78 critics gave the film a positive review, for an average rating of 6.2/10.[5] Metacritic gave the film a score of 58 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[6]
The film was awarded 3 César Awards on 25 February 2011 including a César Award for Best Actor for Eric Elmosnino, a César Award for Best First Feature Film for Joann Sfar and César Award for Best Sound. It also received an additional 8 nominations.
Kenneth Turan of The Los Angeles Times enjoyed the film:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
Unconventional, imaginative, nothing if not audacious, Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is a portrait of creativity from the inside, a serious yet playful attempt to find an artistic way to tell an emotional truth... the songwriter's life is heroic because he lived deeply in his own imagination and did continual battle with the personal demons who shared that space with him... Screenwriter Sfar's final word on his difficult, fascinating man is "I prefer his lies to his truth," his dreams to his reality. It's not hard to see why.[7]
Other critics had alternative opinions, such as A.O. Scott of The New York Times:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
[M]uch of the best and worst of Gainsbourg— the chat show provocateur and the charismatic performer — can be found on Internet video sites, which makes Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life feel a bit superfluous. Its forays into his private life, including a brief, intense affair with Ms. Bardot and a long, tumultuous relationship with Ms. Birkin, are more dutiful than revelatory. And how can Ms. Casta and Ms. Gordon, both nimble actresses (and quite beautiful), be expected to measure up against real-life goddesses whose images remain ubiquitous and irresistible? The puppets and the music make Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life engaging, but it is also visually hectic and lacks either the dramatic intensity or the arresting insight that might have lifted it out of the pedestrian realm of the admiring biopic.[8]
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Use dmy dates from March 2016
- Use British English from March 2016
- Articles needing translation from foreign-language Wikipedias
- Pages with broken file links
- 2010 films
- French-language films
- French films
- Biographical films about musicians
- Biographical films about singers
- British films
- British biographical films
- British drama films
- Directorial debut films
- Films about Jews and Judaism
- Films based on actual events
- Films based on French comics
- Films set in the 1940s
- Films set in the 1950s
- Films set in the 1960s
- Films set in the 1970s
- Films set in the 1980s
- Films set in the 1990s
- Focus Features films
- French drama films
- Musical films based on actual events
- Best First Feature Film César Award winners
- Serge Gainsbourg
- Films produced by Marc du Pontavice
- Films directed by Joann Sfar
- Live-action films based on comics
