Gainsbourg (film)

Hearing French spoken slowly and in a comprehensible accent whilst reading a faithful English translation at the same time is an exquisite experience.

As a result, it's difficult to separate out what I actually thought about the film.

At the beginning, full of life and humour, and beautifully shot, this biography of the immortal Serge Gainsbourg is too long.

A life, unless ended early, is doomed to peter out. The film, being a biopic rather than a story, faithfully records this petering. Gainsbourg is about women and song. In the beginning, the women and the songs are electric. But the procession is too long, and eventually becomes tawdry.

It's worth staying for the second half just for the scene where Gainsbourg records the Marseillaise as a reggae song.