The casting pieces for the long-gestating biopic of notorious French louche and debonair poet of scuzzy panache, Serge Gainsbourg are nicely falling into place. Earlier this Spring, details on the biopic, titled “Serge Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life” (“Vie Héroïque”) came out, but not a lot of North American outlets (including, shamelessly, us) seemed to notice (perhaps cause there wasn’t a ton to report). Directing the film is Joann Sfar, a well-known French comic-book artist, and playing the lead is not, terribly well-known actor Eric Elmosnino. Test shots of Elmosnino posed as Gainsbourg in a familiar smoky noir came out earlier, in May of this year. But that’s basically all the info that was available at the time.
According to an article in France’s Allocine (many thanks to the writer Julien Dokhan), much of the cast and famous side-players, collaborators and loves in Gainsbourg’s life have been set.
Buxom French supermodel Laetitia Casta, has been cast to play the role of Brigitte Bardot, a former lover of Gainsbourg, whom the famous French pop song, “Je t’aime… moi non plus” was originally recorded for and with (Bardot and Gainsbourg recorded several albums together; but after their break-up, Bardot banned the song’s release, so he re-recorded the track with his then-new-girlfriend Jane Birkin who he eventually went on to marry).
Gainbourg wrote for almost every popular and hip singer (or actress) in France at one point, so it’s no wonder that every star of French pop is being accounted for. Women obviously played a huge part of his life and the French king of sleaze wooed and bedded the best of them (or at least wrote music for them as a chance to smell them up close).
Model/actress Anna Mouglalis (“Chanel et Stravinsky, l’Histoire Secrete“) is playing elegant chanson singer Juliette Gréco, actress Sara Forestier (“Perfume: The Story of a Murderer“) will play mousy, French yé-yé singer France Gall and French/Chinese actress Mylène Jampanoï will portray singer actress, Bambou (Caroline von Paulus), the last love of Gainsbourg’s life and the mother of Lucien Gainsbourg.
Lastly Dandy-ish French singer Philippe Katerine (a ’90s Easy Listening proponent) will play artistic polymath/novelist Boris Vian who was one of the first to recognize Gainsbourg’s talents and encourage him to write his own songs and Yolande Moreau (“Paris, je t’aime”) will play Fréhel, one of Gainsbourg’s earliest musical influences.
While the film is starting to take shape, a few key roles have still not been cast. It’s not known yet who will play Gainsbourg’s wife, Jane Birkin or his daughter Charlotte (now a musician and actor in her own right, she was in Michel Gondry’s “The Science of Sleep”), nor the figures of Isabelle Adjani (the actress who recorded an album of his songs that he produced in 1983 called Pull Marine), iconic French star Catherine Deneuve (he wrote an album for her and sang duets), French New Wave symbol Anna Karina (she co-starred and sang in a the musical comedy Anna” with Gainsbourg, he wrote her songs), or Jacques Dutronc and Francoise Hardy (famous French-pop musicians and eventually husband and wife, who worked with at various times in his life).
The film will span 40 years of Gainsbourg’s life, beginning in the 40’s and concluding at the beginning of the 80’s (Gainsbourg died in 1991, which doesn’t spare time for the infamous 1986 incident when the heavily-inebriated, then-washed-up singer told Whitney Houston he wanted to “fook ‘er” on live French television).
However, take note, Sfar refuses to use the word, “biopic,” and the director has said he disliked traditional biopics like, “La Vie En Rose,” which scored Marion Cotillard the Best Actress Oscar last year. Other suggestions that the film won’t be very classical in the biopic mode is the fact that, Sfar will employ special effects created by people who worked for “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
Musically, it’s no huge suprise that Canadian musician artist Gonzales will be participating (so far he’s playing all the piano music that Elmosnino has to act out, early on in the film). Gonzales relocated to France years ago, has been long enamored with Gainsbourg and has helped Ipod breakout star Feist with all her French pop and jazz proclivities, producing and co-writing most of her albums so far. More obviously, Gonzales also produced Jane Birkin’s, Rendez-Vous and Fictions.
It’s unknown what other musicians will be involved in the film, but presumably a ton of Gainsbourg’s original music will be used throughout. And at the very least, it probably gives a spate of newer artists influenced by his work a chance to record new versions of his songs, ala “I’m Not There,” if the director does choose to go in that direction. Lord knows, Gainsbourg’s already been covered over the years almost to death. Update: Though it’s not online, Dokhan told us in a separate French interview Joann Sfar said he wanted to create a film that biopically layed somewhere in between “I’m Not There” and “La Vie En Rose.” So out there, but not too experimental and out there. Apparently he wants to ‘tell a story.’
Below is the trailer for “Slogan,” the 1969 movie where Gainsbourg met Birkin on set and fell in love. Plus a number of duets with the aforementioned gorgeous femmes.
Listen: Serge Gainsbourg & France Gall – “Les Sucettes”
Listen: Serge Gainsbourg & Catherin Deneuve – “Dieu est un fumeur de Havanes”
Listen: Jane Birkin, Francoise Hardy, Jacques Dutronc & Serge Gainsbourg – ” Les P’tits Papiers”
Listen: Brigitte Bardot & Serge Gainsbourg – “Je t’aime moi non plus” (original version)
Listen: Serge Gainsbourg & Anna Karina – “Ne Dis Rien”
Watch: “Slogan” Trailer
