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.
Read the original post:
REVIEW: Overstyled Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life Fumbles Singer-Songwriter’s Myth
