OWF Exclusive Interview: GAINSBOURG director Joann Sfar

By Michael J Edwards /

Gainsbourg is one of the most exciting and innovative films to hit the UK shores this year. Not only is it a great story about a unique life, it is also a rare example of a man directing a big-screen adaptation of his own graphic novel. Joann Sfar is that man, and this is our interview with him... OWF: Are you a fan of musical biopics? Because this seems to be breaking a lot of conventions and doing a lot of new things...

Joann Sfar : Unfortunately... I guess I hate biopics. I love musicals. When it comes to music movies, I love the last show of Robert Altman and maybe I like 'Moulin Rouge' or 'I'm Not There' but when it's about depicting the story of an artist, I'm not that much involved.
OWF: Do you think it's possible to make a traditional biopic of Gainsbourg or do you think he defies that genre?
JS: No I think they'll make as many movies about Gainsbourg as they want. But my movie is not about my fantasy it's about his fantasy, because I made the whole script from quotes said by Gainsbourg himself so it's not a realistic story but it's a story about the things he said about himself. All the anecdotes, all the stories came from things he said - whether he was drunk or otherwise - but I tried to depict his fantasy and maybe his beat. He has a very special way of speaking and I tried to capture something of this.
OWF: In this film some of the puppets were more like main characters that props, how hard was it to get these right?
JS: Oh it was wonderful! I was lucky enough to have the whole crew of Guillermo Del Toro working with me and I wanted that in the movie because I love fantasy movies, people like Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton, and I love puppets. You know it was an expensive movie, so I thought that if it was a failure it might be my last - so I couldn't live without puppets!
OWF: What do you think it is about Gainsbourg that gives him such an enduring appeal?
JS: He lived in the golden age, it's not only about Gainsbourg it's also about Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin, Juliette Greco, everyone really. It seems like this was a good moment for France, and maybe this raises questions about why France is not as appealing today.
OWF: Gainsbourg's life goes through so many stage, and he is with so many people. Was it hard to retain a sense of who this man is amidst all this?
JS: I don't know. I tried to tell a simple story about a guy who tries to conquer his country through love and artistic creation. The story is about a guy in a bed and behind a piano most of all.
OWF: He really emerges from the bed and the piano and becomes a huge part of it though...
JS: Yes, the idea is that he's been questioning popular music from the start and travels through so many kinds of music. It's funny because you can't even really talk about 'his music' you can just talk about his path through popular French music.
OWF: And how hard was it trying to get the young and the old Gainsbourg into this story?
JS: I don't know, it was fun to work with a comedian who is able to be young and to be old. I don't remember many hard moments about the film actually, it was very fun and was a wonderful journey.
OWF: So there were no major obstacles or problems on set?
JS: There was but it was funny! Because when you make comic books you are free to do anything and this lack off freedom in making cinema is powerful and interesting. I love it when people tell me something is impossible, or when we don't have enough money, because it obliges me to think and to find solutions. The tricky moments in cinema are very exciting. I'm used to working alone behind some paper with some watercolours, so to be with 400 people in a crew made me so happy.
OWF: And are there any directors you would identify as taking the same view, of embracing the challenges of cinema?
JS: Oh yes. I would love at one time in my life to work with Guillermo del Toro or Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino. I love this kind of egotist big boys who play with children's toys, and who do visual work in a childish way with some tricky stuff.
OWF: If you could speak objectively, who would you say is sexier: Brigitte Bardot or Serge Gainsbourg?
JS: I don't know. I know Brigitte Bardot said "I love Serge because he made me feel I was beautiful" and it's strange to hear Brigitte Bardot say that because it must mean its a beauty that other people could not reveal. So not only was he an intelligent guy but he could unveil the intelligence of other people, especially the women he loved.
OWF: If you were stuck on a desert island and could take 5 DVDs what would they be?
JS: Porn is allowed? Because if you find yourself alone on an island, believe me, you won't care about Marlon Brando.
Gainsbourg is in U.K. cinema's now!

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