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Eric Elmosnino, Lucy Gordon, Laetitia Casta, Anna Mouglalis, Doug Jones ... see more see more... , Mylène Jampanoï , Sara Forestier , Kacey Mottet Klein , Razvan Vasilescu , Dinara Droukarova , Philippe Katerine , Deborah Grall , Yolande Moreau , Ophélia Kolb , Claude Chabrol , François Morel , Philippe Duquesne , Angelo Debarre , Grégory Gadebois , Alice Carel , Le Quatuor , Roger Mollien , Brigitte Bardot , Jane Birkin , Juliette Greco , Eric Elmosino

Comic book artist Joann Sfar interprets the life of '60s pop star Serge Gainsbourg (Eric Elmosnino),1921-1991, beginning with his childhood years in Nazi-occupied Paris, through his early years as a p... read more read more...ainter and jazz musician (brushing shoulders with Boris Vian), to his life as a wildly popular singer-songwriter, notorious bon vivant, and lover of some of the world's most glamorous women. Gainsbourg's two-sided personality (narcissistic and self-loathing) and his over-the-top antics with Brigitte Bardot (Laetitia Casta), Jane Birkin (Lucy Gordon), and beatnik icon Juliette Gréco (Anna Mouglalis) share the screen with a giant puppet alter-ego: a scary, libidinous bad-boy who personifies all of Gainsbourg's worst proclivities. -- (C) Music Box Films

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66% liked it

15,786 ratings

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71% liked it

77 critics

Unrated, 2 hr. 16 min.

Directed by: Joann Sfar

Release Date: August 31, 2011

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DVD Release Date: March 20, 2012

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Flixster Reviews (405)

  • 366weirdmovies
    December 14, 2011
    366weirdmovies
    Slightly surrealistic biopic covering the life of a French folk/rock icon, the hard-drinking, hard-smoking Lothario Serge Gainsbourg, with a scary puppet doppelganger on hand representing his inner demons. The experimentalism and some dead-on portrayals of Gainsboug's glamorous ... read morelovers---Juliette Greco, Brigitte Bardot and Jane Birkin---make for a lively tribute to the rakish singer's rebel spirit.
  • blacksheepboy
    August 15, 2011
    blacksheepboy
    This charming biopic about Serge Gainsbourg is definitely not amazing, and I really don't know what is so heroic about him, but it is a delight to see how he wrote some of his songs and met the women of his life, in a surreal and stylish depiction of part of his existence.
  • ythelastman89
    June 27, 2011
    ythelastman89
    I could care less about the life of Gainsbourg and this movie really didn't change my mind. It mainly just follows the exact same formula of The Doors, but just with a far less interesting subject. It's almost baffling how they could get away with telling such a mirrored story wh... read moreen I'm sue the two people couldn't have been different. Sometimes this looks like a filmed play, due to the odd lighting and desire to always frame the action in exactly the same way. It also seemed to drag for a ridiculously long time for being just a 2hr movie. I'm not someone who is a die-hard fan of French film-making and this seemed to posses all the traits I don't care for. The necessity for imaginary puppets, goofy narrative breaks and oddly paced scenes didn't help me enjoy this anymore. The one thing I did happen to enjoy was all the beautiful women, but that's hardly something you can compliment the movie itself for. Eric Elmosnino really doesn't do anything interesting here; he just sort'v mopes his way through the movie and doesn't even become interesting until the very last stretch of Gainsbourg's life. I'm sure there will be people that eat this up and just love this biopic, but I really found it to be pointless and terribly executed.
  • SirPant
    May 18, 2011
    SirPant
    Gainsbourg is a refreshing biopic that skillfully avoids all the usual cliches found in the genres. Maybe it takes someone other than a film director to tackle films like this, personally I think getting someone like Joann Sfar, a well known and much loved graphic artists (who kn... read moreows a bit about Gainsbourg) was a brilliant decision. It is both visually stimulating and beautifully shot, I would argue that you wouldn't need to know anything about Gainsbourg before watching this film, but that said, fans need not worry, the mix of fact and myth suits the legend of Gainsbourg perfectly.There will undoubtedly be things you didn't know about Gainsbourg but all the more interesting 'Half-truths' are all accounted for and the film is all the better for it. Personally I loved it, it's the best biopic I've seen for a very long time and I thoroughly recommend it!
  • deano
    March 20, 2011
    deano
    Very interesting untold true story of famous French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg as well as this is based on the graphic novel by the French writer-director of the film, Joann Sfar.
    The Gallic equivalent of Frank Sinatra, Noel Coward and Shane MacGowan, Serge Gainsbourg wa... read mores unique who redefined '60 and '70s national culture. It's incredible, then, what Sfar, a French comic-book artist, has managed to capture here. Eric Elmosnino miraculously nails Gainsbourg's louche, lupine suavity and beguiling vulnerability, and scenes of the composer's early life - a Fellini-esque fairytale where he's tutored by his vampiric puppet alter-ego, La Guele - are truly powerful. Inexplicably, the second hour lurches into rock biopic cliches - drugs, bad wigs, and the cheesy recreation of the hit composition.
  • McKittrick
    August 1, 2010
    McKittrick
    'Gainsbourg', in bio-pic terms, is maybe somewhat of a missed opportunity - despite its bio-friendly length, not much about the man is delved into too deeply, as incidents and character are skimmed over rather too haphazardly. This is a shame, seeing as I for one don't know very ... read moremuch about him aside from his public persona - his songs, especially those with his loves Birkin and Bardot, that he drank a lot and that he always had a cigarette wedged in his mouth.

    However, there is still very much to enjoy and admire and if, like me, you are grinning from ear to ear at the vaguely retro cartooning of the title sequence then you may just appreciate the many incidental pleasures that make up the first 75 minutes or so of what follows. Director, Joann Sfar has imagination and flair for sure (his daring use of animation and puppetry helps to stop things feeling dry) and he has certainly paid homage to the man and, if nothing else, this will certainly rejuvenate interest in the music.

    Eric Elmosino is terrific in the title role and just like Marion Cotillard before him, in that other flawed bio of an Icône française, he manages to transcend simple convincing impersonation to become the man totally (and there is NO lip-syncing the songs here either, as the cast use their own voices).
    Special mentions: A suitably lusty and far too brief turn by Yolande Moreau as Fréhel. The cafe scene where the young Gainsbourg meets her is a joy. As is Sara Forestier - very funny as the cheeky France Gall.
    I have to admit that Laetitia Casta's big glam entrance as Bardot left me a little breathless and is one of the film's most indulgent highlights - all thigh-high boots, leopard print, lush blonde tresses and mascara as the distinctive instrumental of 'The Initials BB' trumpets away on the soundtrack. It just couldn't be anyone else.
    And the songs! In fact 'Gainsbourg' feels closer to being a musical bio-pic. Or, to be more precise, it's a musical homage - as the songs, staged with originality, poignancy and sheer fun, are always never less than reverential to the artistry of the man (including acknowledging that he was an accomplished painter) if not always telling us something about his character or propelling the story. Look out for what they do with 'Comic Strip' (I just wanted to jump up and cry "more, more!"), not to mention the scene when when we finally hear THAT song - it's a little surreal and quite hysterical. Much like the film actually.
  • fb1142797643
    February 14, 2011
    fb1142797643
    It's a shame that this biopic of French singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg was barely released in the States, because it's a solid introduction to his life and music. (And most of America needs one!) First-time director Joann Sfar (note: he's male) goes a bit overboard with gimmi... read morecky visual effects -- blame it on Jean-Pierre Jeunet's influence? -- but at least the puppet-headed representation of Gainsbourg's "Gainsbarre" persona is narratively motivated. However, the sequence with the giant, four-legged, four-armed Jewish eggman (seriously) is just too much.

    Otherwise, the film gives a fairly detailed account of Gainsbourg's rise from persecuted Russian Jew to struggling painter to iconic superstar, followed by the boozy deterioration where his image as an eccentric scoundrel began to overshadow his achievements (a late haircut scene depicts his slide into self-parody in a clever, metaphorical way). The casting is stunningly perfect, particularly lookalike Eric Elmosnino as Gainsbourg (you truly sense why gorgeous women couldn't resist him, despite his homeliness), Laetitia Casta as Brigitte Bardot (her naked "Comic Strip" dance lingers in memory long after the film's over), Sara Forestier as the coquettish France Gall and tragedy-bound Lucy Gordon as Jane Birkin. Late director Claude Chabrol also adds an amusing, farewell cameo as a label man shocked by Gainsbourg's unveiling of the infamous "Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus."

    Some may complain that the script skims over too much of Gainsbourg's long decline. Even the scandalous "Lemon Incest" (a suggestive song recorded with his pubescent daughter Charlotte) goes unmentioned. But the film can't cover everything -- this was a life of multiple phases and consistent infamy, and even 130 minutes don't seem like enough time to properly capture him.
  • dketu
    August 8, 2010
    dketu
    This movie was much too long for the subject. 130 minutes about one single life where the only variety was the same problems with different women. 90 Min would have been sufficient.
    Enjoyed watching it nevertheless, it is filmed, directed in an original fun french manner.
  • olivierpasco
    April 26, 2012
    olivierpasco
    Gainsbourg life as dreamed up by Joann Star. Most likely not accurate but it does feel like it captures the character of the singer-songwriter. Made me want to listen to his songs again.

View All Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life Reviews

Critic Reviews

Steven Rea
November 10, 2011
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer

In short, Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life is a charmer. Full Review

Andrea Gronvall
November 4, 2011
Andrea Gronvall, Chicago Reader

French pop star Serge Gainsbourg was as much iconoclast as icon, so it's fitting that this fanciful biopic is both affectionate and irreverent. Full Review

Mick LaSalle
October 27, 2011
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Alas, "Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life" loses steam and grows more perfunctory as it wears on. Full Review

Colin Covert
October 27, 2011
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

It's the story of a genius with no moral sense and no interests beyond sensuality. The catchy, insinuating music can only carry you so far. Full Review

Ty Burr
October 27, 2011
Ty Burr, Boston Globe

For better and for worse, Sfar's a fan, and his movie is a busy love letter to Gainsbourg that skates along the surface of the legend. Full Review

Roger Ebert
October 27, 2011
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Why was Gainsbourg a hero? The film leaves the question hanging. I am afraid it was only because, like Sinatra, he did it his way. Which no one can deny. Full Review

Michael O'Sullivan
October 14, 2011
Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post

A viewer who comes into "Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life" knowing nothing about Serge Gainsbourg will not come out the other side especially enlightened about the late French-Jewish singer-songwriter's life... Full Review

Stephen Cole
September 16, 2011
Stephen Cole, Globe and Mail

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life accepts its subject on his own terms. And the compromise feels like capitulation before its hero's last record spins to a close. Full Review

Greg Quill
September 15, 2011
Greg Quill, Toronto Star

While Sfar doesn't dare tinker with the facts or sully the mystique, he gains enormous traction via the imaginative and subversive manner he has devised to tell a story that, in many ways, is hard to ... Full Review

Peter Rainer
September 8, 2011
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor

A sloggy fantasia about Gainsbourg's life featuring such oddities as a giant, hook-nosed puppet that acts as the singer's alter ego, as well as a parade of showy sequences involving grand Gainsbourg a... Full Review

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    • Serge Gainsbourg: [spoken to Jane] I'm trying to resist my desire to kiss you.
    • Serge Gainsbourg: [singing] We were in love. As long as the song lasted.
    • Serge Gainsbourg: No, it's pretty when you cry.
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