Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

Bo Jackson, Superman, Beyoncé. We all have our childhood idols. French comic book artist Joann Sfar happened to have a Serge Gainsbourg fixation. And who could blame him? Gainsbourg wrote music, slept with beautiful women and smoked more cigarettes than anyone thought humanly possible. In homage to his hero, Sfar penned a 451-page adult comic book, which has now been adapted into a film: Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life.


Production of the movie almost came to a halt when Charlotte Gainsbourg, initially cast to play her father, found the role too emotionally trying. But then Sfar met Eric Elmosnino and never looked back. Elmosnino’s convincing interpretation of the lead won him the best actor award at the Tribeca Film Festival as well as a César (the French Oscar). Also starring in the film is Laetitia Casta as Brigitte Bardot, Lucy Gordon as Jane Birkin and Anna Mouglalis as Juliette Gréco.

With a cast like that the visuals would have to be compelling. But wait till you hear the music. Here’s an excerpt of an interview with composer Olivier Daviaud by Laura Menanteau of Tout Pour Les Femmes:

How did you approach the music in this film?
With humility: this is the first time I have worked on a film soundtrack. It’s a film about Gainsbourg and I had to immerse myself in Joann’s brand of poetry. He wanted to stay faithful to Serge, while reinventing him at the same time. There are more than 60 musical clips in the film, which left me quite a bit of scope. I re-appropriated Gainsbourg’s songs, as well as composed supplementary music into which I injected elements from Gainsbourg’s music.

Where did you find your inspiration?
In the song « Initials B. B. », Gainsbourg used the first movement from The New World Symphony by Dvořák. As a reference to this, I used the beginning of The New World Symphony before going into « Initials B. B. » in the scene in which Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot break up. It’s a knowing wink to Gainsbourg connoisseurs, but at the same time, it corresponds to the emotions conveyed in the scene. Gainsbourg was very much influenced by classical composers such as Beethoven, Brahms and Chopin. So in the film, there’s a Chopin prelude, Brahms’ Third Symphony – which Gainsbourg used in « Baby Alone in Babylone » – and a piece by Beethoven which inspired «Marilou. »

Which songs are the most faithful to the originals?
Je t’aime… Moi non plus. We used Gainsbourg’s version. Along with Valse de Melody, it’s one of the rare moments where we use the original version. However, I did reinforce the sound of the strings – we went to Sofia in Bulgaria to record a string orchestra, who recreated the string part from the original song.

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life will open on August 31st in New York, September 2nd in Los Angeles, and September 16th in Portland. For more listings in more cities, see Music Box Films’ website.