Have you heard of Serge Gainsbourg, French pop megastar who died in 1991, ugly Jewish guy with big ego? Had affairs with Brigitte Bardot among others? His daughter keeps his house like a shrine?
It's ok, I hadn't either, till I saw an intelligent, imaginative (if slightly long) biopic in French that won several awards in Europe and is now here.
It's another colorful take on late-night Paris, and that ugly Eric Elsmonino deserves his awards, as does the credit art and the alter-ego called the Mug, who walks around giving him advice which is often bad.
It must be compared to Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris," seamier but still a luscious portrait of the city as background to the dissolute goings-on. Little and arty, it opened in Cambridge--not Boston--and in New York at the Film Forum.
Here he is, with Laetitia Casta as Bardot--who she says coached her. Fun music and lovingly lighted celeb scenes are also like "Midnight," but Allen is usually over-and-out by an hour and a half. "Gainsbourg" is more than two, which is a fault.
The crew will have moved on to the next thing and won't go back to snip this film and make it really good. Hey, I'd do it for them cheap.
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