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Album review
Gainsbourg (vie héroïque)
Original soundtrack of the film by Joann Sfar
07/01/2010 -
It’s Gainsbourg, so it’s only natural that the music comes first, and that the soundtrack is released before Joann Sfar’s movie, the highly anticipated Gainsbourg (vie héroïque) which debuts in French cinemas on 20 January. This musical adventure covering two CDs serves as an appetizer to the main event.
The soundtrack has been overseen by composer Olivier Daviaud, who offers us 43 gems that reconstruct the puzzle that is Gainsbourg, bringing together the cream of the French music industry to breathe new life into this national icon. Dionysos gives us a punk, stripped-to-the-bone Nazi Rock, while Emily Loizeau and Jeanne Cherhal are like two overexcited kids as they perform Qui est "in", qui est "out" (who’s in and who’s out). Nosfell offer their interpretation of Love on The Beat, while skunk reggae practitioners K2R Riddim add a certain groove to Aux armes et Caetera…
Philippe Catherine also has a starring turn as the drunken Boris Vian (Je bois versus Intoxicated Man), as does the gypsy virtuoso Angelo Debarre (La Leçon de Guitare, l’Atelier en Flammes…). The inimitable Gonzales does wonders with the piano, extracting sounds from it that no other musician can. Above all, Olivier Daviaud’s strategy of getting each actor to sing as close as possible to the actual originals without banally imitating them is a huge success. Sara Forestier performs as the young France Gall (Baby Pop); the rich melodies sung by Laetitia Casta breathe new life into Brigitte Bardot classics such as Comic Strip, Bonnie And Clyde; and the suave Anna Mouglalis offers a sensual interpretation of Juliette Gréco’s Javanaise.
But the starring act here is lead actor Eric Elmosnino, who plays Gainsbourg himself. Without trying to imitate Gainsbourg’s singing style, Elmosnino nevertheless manages to imbue his performance with Gainsbourg’s elegance, fragility, characteristic flaws and sense of revolt, resulting in an extremely moving performance. Without simply resurrecting the singer, he gives life to the persona created Joann Sfar, bringing out fundamental aspects and key motifs that get to the heart of who Gainsbourg really was.
Touching the heart
The soundtrack is really all about this prodigy. A project such as this could easily go wrong, but right from first listening it’s clear that it is a resounding success. The music strangely resembles our own memories of the songs, and the pastiches sound so good
that it’s hard to tell whether they’re fakes or really Gainsbourg, since there are also some originals (Je t’aime Moi non plus, La valse de Mélody) on this soundtrack.
But in fact once you get to those authentic Gainsbourg songs, you immediately hear the difference. Although they are arranged differently, they still somehow retain the heart and soul of the Gainsbourg originals. For each song, the composer Olivier Daviaud has managed to isolate its true DNA to make it instantly recognisable as Gainsbourg’s. It’s a delicate balancing act, blending creative freedom with humility and reverence towards a towering oeuvre and an enthralling imagination.
This soundtrack offers us the keys to better understanding the artist (many of the pieces here are inspired by classical works much loved by Gainsbourg, from the likes of Brahms, Chopin, or Beethoven). In it you hear the flamboyance of Bulgarian ensembles, and intimate dialogues that penetrate the inner being of Sfar’s character: the essential Gainsbourg that the director has sketched across sixty pages of the accompanying booklet. This release is an objet d’art in itself, summoning up the images and painting through music the promise of this ambitious film.La javanaise
Gainsbourg (Vie Héroïque), directed by Joann Sfar: French cinema release on 20 January 2010.
Anne-Laure Lemancel
Translation : Hugo Wilcken
02/03/2006 -
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10/12/2003 -
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