Review of Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010) by Ana O — 13 Oct 2010

Rarely does a film that somehow feels to leave quite a bit to improve leave such a good overall impression. I'm not sure what those improvements should be, I'm sure the final fulfillment wasn't reached, but I think I would like to see this film again.

Gainsbourg's legendary songs offer a solid bedrock that a biographical film on him can be based on, but Joann Sfar goes far beyond that. Gainsbourg's long-nosed alter ego, a comic character that follows him through the film, is an exceptionally successful addition.

Elmosino does a great job and looks exactly like Gainsbourg when he's in Jamaica! Towards the end the story gets more melancholic, and I wondered if Sfar had given in to what the master's life was like in reality (instead of the more alluring lies about him, as Sfar admits), but then I realized that decay, sacrifices and self-destruction were integral parts of Gainsbourg's "vie héroïque" and his public character.

The tragic later years were not a sad end, but a natural continuation to what he was right from the beginning.