The bold, relatively brief life of Serge Gainsbourg, the French singer, songwriter and svengali who died in 1991, is twice removed from the story told by Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life . First-time writer and director Joann Sfar has said that polishing the fine points of that life — ceding to biographical “truth” — was of no interest to him. A top-flight fan and best-selling comic book artist, Sfar was intent on avoiding the brash outlines of a biopic in favor of a certain sort of homage, the tender evocation of style and personality in place of strict chronology and narrative arc. A parallel determination to inhabit his hero’s life with an intensely personal, interpretive gusto bends the film back into a more conventional shape; the big moments play out with the giddy gratification of fan fiction. Both abstract and very specific, Sfar’s inspirations abound such that they frequently overshadow those of his subject.
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REVIEW: Overstyled Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life Fumbles Singer-Songwriter’s Myth
