A couple of days ago I tried something different! Something my fellow movie lovers have done in years, but somehow I have never. ‘Till now, that is! Namely to go to the cinemas all solo! For the first time in my life I went to watch a movie without a company, and let me tell you that it felt kinda strange but also cool! Hehe, as much as I love a good company when enjoying a movie I have always been fascinated by those who go all alone and are able to enjoy something all by themselves. Some might consider such sight sad, I rather see it as strength! So yesterday I gave it a shot and it worked rather fine, I must say. Even though for the first time I came to understand why all these years my friends kept nagging about people chatting or making sounds around them, while I had never picked up on such things when accompanied by someone. Yesterday even a whisper bugged the hell out of me!lol And the fact that such trivialities did irritate me irritated me even more!lol So that minor disturbance was the only downside of the experience, I think. Also I chose a foreign movie for this historic occasion, in a secluded cinema with only 100 seats (of which about 80 were vacant!lol). I think its harder to watch a blockbuster on your own in a standard size cinema, its like going to a stadium and watch a high profile concert all alone! In such events the more is the merrier, in my opinion. However foreign arthouse films more or less demand your undivided attention. Its like going to a cozy joint or jazz bar, which for me works even better (in many ways, hehe) when I go alone.
Anyways, now to the movie “Gainsbourg” which I was dying to watch and grabbed the opportunity when it against all odds is being shown in selected cinemas here in Sweden. It should be mentioned that this is not a biopic as much as it is a psychological portrait. In the sense that it is based more on fantasy than actual facts, even in terms of presentation and narration. You’ll meet Serge’s alter ego, in a way you would have never imagined! As a result the film is a series of loosely connected songs and scenes from Serge’s life and career, without any conventional continuity or coherence. Much like the style and disposition of the graphic novels of its director. Meaning that if you are unfamiliar with the popular icon and his cultural significance you wont be able to connect the dots that this film offers you. In other words you wont be able to appreciate Gainsbourg if you don’t know Gainsbourg! Ultimately this is Serge Gainsbourg as “imagined” by the illustrator gone director Sfar, but done so rather delicately if not romantically. Despite the fragmented dramaturgy the cinematography is beautiful and the fact that Elmosnino looks like Gainsbourg’s clone does a great deal to give this film’s depiction enough credibility to sell it’s fables to you as facts! Finally the tragic suicide of the young and beautiful actress Lucy Gordon whose performance in the leading role was meant to be her big break in the world of cinema has come to cast a shadow of sadness over “Gainsbourg”. The fact that she hung herself weeks after the film was finished and never got to watch it!
