Serge-fest

Last Sunday, Verity and I went to a free screening of the Gainsbourg film. For some reason it's been re-titled Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus for the English speaking market, perhaps to make it more accessible to a new audience by referencing the one song most people know from his back-catalogue. But definitely a bit confusing for anyone who knows a bit more about Gainsbourg and has knowledge of his own 1976 directed film Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus.

I picked up this glossy little pamphlet at the cinema:



I won't spoil the film for anyone who's not seen it yet, but it was definitely a better viewing experience than when I first saw it on a longhaul flight (on a six-inch screen with altitude sickness and jumbo-jet engines roaring in the background). Joann Sfar has used his artistic-license in building the Gainsbourg narrative around the myths and tales that make Serge's life so colourful. There is much spinning of yarns and embellishing of myths, which turn what could've been a straight-down-the-line biopic into an almost fantastical, hallucinatory tale.

Later that evening, we reacquainted ourselves with some a little Serge-fest on DVD, comme ça...