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Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life ()

Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) (original title)
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A glimpse at the life of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris through his successful song-writing years in the 1960s to his death in 1991 at the age of 62.

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Cast

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Serge Gainsbourg / Voix de La Gueule
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Jane Birkin
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Brigitte Bardot
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La Gueule
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Juliette Gréco
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Bambou
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France Gall
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Lucien Ginsburg
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Joseph Ginsburg (le père)
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Olga Ginsburg (la mère) (as Dinara Droukarova)
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Boris Vian
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Elisabeth Levizky
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Fréhel
Ophélia Kolb ...
Le Modèle
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Le Producteur Musique de Gainsbourg
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Le Directeur de l'Internat
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Lucky Sarcelles
Angelo Debarre ...
Le Guitariste Gitan
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Phyphy (as Grégory Gadebois de la Comédie Française)
Alice Carel ...
Judith
Joann Sfar ...
Georges Brassens
Orphée Silard ...
Lilane Ginsburg / Charlotte Gainsbourg
Lucile Vezier ...
Jacqueline Ginsburg / Kate
Le Quatuor ...
Les Frères Jacques
Jean-Claude Camors ...
Frère Jacques 1
Laurent Vercambre ...
Frère Jacques 2
Pierre Ganem ...
Frère Jacques 3
Jean-Yves Lacombe ...
Frère Jacques 4
Roger Mollien ...
Le Père de France Gall (as Roger Mollien de la Comédie Française)
Hortense Pol ...
La Fille de Judith
Arnaud Churin ...
Le Chef des Pompiers
Guillaume Viry ...
Ingénieur du Son Jamaïque
Oliver Cywie ...
Gosse Internat 1 (as Olivier Cywie)
Kevin Loubarere ...
Gosse !nternat 2
Thomas Larsonnier ...
Gosse Internat 3
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Le Flic Nazi Rock 1
Gilles Verlant ...
Le Flic Nazi Rock 2
Pierre Brichese ...
Le Chauffeur de la Fleetwood (as Piero Brichese)
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Le Responsable Préfecture
Denis Falgoux ...
L'Employé Préfecture
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La Planton Brochaut
Maurice Antoni ...
Le Directeur de l'Orphelinat
Camille Lupfer ...
La Petite Fille Plage
Jacqueline Staup ...
La Dame Rousse
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La Fille en Rouge
Jérôme Chappatte ...
Le Commissaire Priseur
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Le Policier Vian 1
Didier Lupfer ...
Le Policier Vian 2
Laurent Lévy ...
Le Musicien Classique (as Laurent Levy)
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Marilou Coiffeuse
Lisa Ray-Jacobs ...
La Journaliste (as Lisa Jacobs)
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La Vendeuse Confiserie
Stéphane Batut ...
Le Client Cabaret Mme Arthur
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La Gueule (enfant)
Frédéric Mpampa ...
Enfant Jamaïcain 1
Jahmal Noel ...
Enfant IJmaïcain 2
Janyem Perrin-Cebin ...
Enfant Jamaïcain 3
Daniel Isoppo ...
Le Journaliste France-Soir
Jeremy Vanhese ...
L'Imitateur (as Jeremy Van Hese)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Audrey Clinet ...
La fan de Serge (uncredited)
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Natalie Wood (uncredited)
Mattéo Eustachon ...
Extra (uncredited)
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Fan (uncredited)
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Pianiste Night-Club (uncredited)
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Musicien Nazi Rock (uncredited)
Christine Riviere-Anissa ...
Extra (uncredited)
Myriam Riviere-Anissa ...
Extra (uncredited)
Riad Sattouf ...
Le Petit Modèle de Fréhel (uncredited)

Directed by

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Joann Sfar

Written by

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Joann Sfar ... (graphic novel)
 
Joann Sfar ... (screenplay)

Produced by

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Marc Du Pontavice ... producer
Matthew Gledhill ... supervising producer
Didier Lupfer ... producer

Music by

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Olivier Daviaud

Cinematography by

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Guillaume Schiffman

Editing by

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Maryline Monthieux

Editorial Department

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Miguel Bejo ... telecine dailies colorist
Karen Cerutti ... first assistant editor
Myriam Coën ... digital conformation
Ornella Del-Vecchio ... digital conformation
Sophia Del-Vecchio ... digital conformation
Aude Humblet ... colorist
Frederic Jupin ... digital conformation
Amélie Massoutier ... second assistant editor

Casting By

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Stéphane Batut
Des Hamilton

Production Design by

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Christian Marti

Set Decoration by

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Isabelle Girard

Costume Design by

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Pascaline Chavanne

Makeup Department

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Charlotte Arguillère ... hair stylist
Stéphanie Aznarez ... additional makeup artist (as Stéphanie Asnarez)
Véronique Boitout ... hair stylist
Laurence Boulet ... assistant hair stylist
Sabine Fevre ... makeup artist
Patrick Girault ... key hair stylist
Mathieu Gueracague ... hair stylist
Laetitia Hillion ... special makeup effects artist
Frédéric Lainé ... special makeup effects artist
Sebastian Lochmann ... special makeup effects sculptor
David Martí ... special makeup effects artist
Anne Moralis ... wig maker
Christophe Oliveira ... key makeup artist
Montse Ribé ... special makeup effects artist
Gill Robillard ... key makeup artist
Myriam Roger ... additional hair stylist
Miguel Santos ... hair stylist
Floris Schuller ... special aging prosthetics: DDT

Production Management

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Pascal Bonnet ... production manager
Maxime Bouyer ... assistant unit manager
Matthieu Constans ... second assistant unit manager
Christina Crassaris ... post-production supervisor
Brice Francois ... assistant unit manager trainee
Bertrand Girard ... unit manager
Alexandre Houllier ... assistant unit manager
Bruno Jouan ... assistant unit manager
Sephora Mayer ... assistant unit manager trainee
David Moreillon ... assistant unit manager
Alexandre Talmon ... additional assistant unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director

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Felix Baudouin ... second second assistant director
Yann Cuinet ... first assistant director
Sonia Delhaye ... additional assistant director
Winter Goury du Roslan ... trainee assistant director
Carol Lecacheur ... assistant director: crowd
Amour Rawyler ... child coach
Marie Rolindes ... second assistant director

Art Department

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Hadrien Albert ... assistant art director
Gilles Bontemps ... sculptor
Sophie Bégon ... assistant art director trainee
Gladys Garot ... assistant art director
Maite Goblet ... second assistant art director
Alain Gosse ... first assistant art director
Frédéric Jourdan ... carpenter
Pascal Le Guellec ... assistant art director (as Pascal Leguellec)
Julia Lemaire ... assistant art director / assistant set decorator
Eliott Marti ... internship: assistant art director
Raphaël Mittet ... ripper/set dresser
Jean Noviel ... roughman
Nicolas Raffy ... property master
Jochen Rohrig ... head carpenter
Julien Tesseraud ... carpenter
Yann Vuillet-a-Ciles ... ripper

Sound Department

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Philippe Amouroux ... re-recording mixer
Niels Barletta ... sound mastering engineer
Daniel Cabrera Majada ... dubbing recordist
Gurwal Coïc-Gallas ... sound editor
Jean Goudier ... supervising sound editor
Johann Gretke ... sound trainee
Cyril Holtz ... re-recording mixer
Pierre-Jean Labrusse ... sound mix technician
Fred Mays ... post-synchronisation
Michel Monier ... sound consultant: dolby
Florian Penot ... assistant foley artist
Philippe Penot ... foley artist
David Rit ... boom operator
Daniel Sobrino ... sound mixer

Special Effects by

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Xavier Bastida ... special makeup effects DDT crew (as Xavi Bastida)
Maxime Boquier ... special effects makeup: DDT SFX Crew
Oriane Cattiaux ... special effects assistant
Chris Clarke ... lead animatronic designer
Grégoire Delage ... special effects supervisor
Jordi Morera ... special effects makeup: DDT SFX Crew
Raquel Munuera ... special effects makeup: DDT SFX
Pablo Perona ... special effects makeup (as Pablo Perona Navarro)
Charles-Axel Vollard ... special effects technician

Visual Effects by

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Béatrice Bauwens ... visual effects coordinator
Nicolas Borens ... digital compositor
Sophie Denize ... visual effects producer
Julien Dias ... senior compositor
Florence Durante ... matte painter
Cédric Fayolle ... visual effects supervisor
Damien Hurgon ... digital compositor
Wulff Jeremy ... digital compositor
Luc Martias ... roto artist
François Masle ... digital compositor / roto artist

Stunts

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Laurent Alexandre ... stunt double: Serge Gainsbourg
Jean-Marc Bellu ... stunts
Jean-Louis Bonnet ... stunt double: Policier Vian 1
Lyne Doffagne ... stunt double: Jane Birkin
Dominique Fouassier ... stunt coordinator
Gérard Kuhnl ... stunt driver
Mathieu Lardot ... assistant stunt coordinator
Thierry Latour ... stunts
Jean-Yves Meynet ... stunts
Sébastien Peres ... stunts
Garry Pieri ... stunts
Ludo Silemetzoglou ... stunt double: La Gueule
Yann Tremblay ... Stunt double: Policier Vian 2 / car de police
Daniel Vérité ... stunts

Camera and Electrical Department

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Loïc Andrieu ... additional steadicam operator
Sylvain Bardoux ... grip
Senda Bonnet ... assistant camera
Hugo Bouhier ... electrician
Julien Bullat ... first assistant camera: "b" camera
Simon Bérard ... gaffer
Patrick Chizallet ... grip
Stéphane Chollet ... steadicam operator
David Ciccodicola ... second assistant camera
Alexandre Ferrini ... stagiaire image
Vincent Garat ... generator operator
Guillaume Genini ... focus puller
Hans Krumenacker ... electrician
Stella Libert ... additional first assistant camera
Loïc Limosin ... best boy electric
Aurore Lossouarn ... assistant camera
Laurent Menoury ... key grip
François Perrault-Alix ... grip
Honoré Soubrie ... grip
Benjamin Vial ... grip

Casting Department

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Clementine Boissins ... extras casting assistant
Liv Charpentier ... extras casting: children
Emilie Chaumat ... extras casting assistant
Julie David ... casting: children
Nadia Nataf ... casting children
Peggy Pasquerault ... casting assistant
Miguel Peraudeau ... extras casting assistant
Elise Vogel ... extras casting assistant
Stéphane Zito ... extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department

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Loïc Barnier ... costumer
Catherine Boisgontier ... assistant costume designer
Caroline de Tugny ... patina & tint
Denise Diallo ... wardrobe
Marie Eynard ... assistant costume designer
Valérie Le Hello ... costumer
Aurélie Morille ... wardrobe
Tifenn Tautou ... costumer
Alphonsine Mireille Toudonou ... wardrobe (as Mireille Todounou)

Location Management

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Marie Barré ... location scout
Luc Bricault ... location scout
Christophe Chauveau ... location scout
Xavier Douin ... location scout
Kevin Frilet ... location scout
Lionel Guerrini ... location scout

Music Department

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Philippe Almosnino ... musician: guitars
Sylvain Bardiau ... musician: trumpet
Daniel Beja ... musician: guitars
Cyril Bilbeaud ... musician: drums
Laurent Binder ... music engineer
Jean-Baptiste Brunhes ... music engineer / music mixer
Raphael Chassin ... musician: drums
Pascal Colomb ... musician: electric bass
Bertrand Commere ... musician: guitars/banjos/sitars/mandolins
Cecile Coutelier ... music assistant engineer
Olivier Daviaud ... music arranger / music producer / music programmer / musician: vocals/pianos/cellos
Albin De La Simone ... musician: keyboards
Angelo Debarre ... musician: guitars/banjos
Tyron Donnie ... musician: keyboards
David DuPuy ... musician: trumpet
Thibault Frisoni ... musician: guitars
Martin Gamet ... musician: electric/acoustic basses
Frederic Gastard ... musician: saxophones
Estelle Goldfarb ... musician: violin
Chilly Gonzales ... musician: pianos (as Gonzales)
Orkhan Hartlap ... musician: drums
Sylvaine Hélary ... musician: flute
Paul Jothy ... musician: drums
Halima Kadi ... musician / vocalist
Pascale Kameni Kamga ... musician / vocalist
Christophe Lavergne ... musician: drums & percussion
Paul Lavergne ... executive music producer / music supervisor
Pierre Le Bourgeois ... musician (electric bass) (as Pierre le Bourgeois)
Thierry le Chauve ... musician: electric bass
Alban le Goff ... musician: pianos
Stephane le Guerel ... musician: drums
Didier Lizé ... music engineer: string orchestra
Mathias Malher ... musician: trombone
Marie-Line Marolany ... vocalist
Jason Meyer ... musician: violin
Celine Munan ... musician / vocalist
Sarah Murcia ... musician: bass
Nosfell ... musician: guitars/vocals
Deyan Pavlov ... conductor
Slim Pezin ... musician: guitars
Didier Pouydesseau ... music engineer
Francois Puyalto ... musician: guitarron
Rodolphe Raffali ... musician: guitars
Charles Rappoport ... musician: violin
Marc Sens ... musician: electric bass
Jacques Tellitocchi ... musician: percussion
Serge Teyssot-Gay ... musician: guitars
Thibault Willigens ... musician: guitars
Yom ... musician: clarinets
Efim Zoubriski ... musician: violin
Elena Chouchkova ... orchestra contractor (uncredited)
Olivier Daviaud ... orchestrator (uncredited)

Script and Continuity Department

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Guillaume Dreyfus ... script consultant
Isabelle Ribis ... script supervisor
Cécile Rodolakis ... script assistant

Additional Crew

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Tatiana Bouchain ... production staff
Christophe Debono ... animal trainer
Julien Etienne ... additional assistant to director
Anne-Sophie Gledhill ... french language coach
Noémie Lance ... production assistant
Marc Leroyer ... armorer: weapons
Marie McFerran ... assistant production accountant
Paul Onteniente ... production administrator
Sophie Onteniente ... assistant production administrator
Guillaume Sion ... assistant unit manager
Patricia Sterlin ... acting coach
Pascal Tréguy ... head animal trainer

Thanks

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Lucy Gordon ... in memory of

Production Companies

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Distributors

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Special Effects

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Other Companies

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Storyline

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Plot Summary

Lucien Ginsburg, a rebellious French Jewish boy with a grotesque imagination, hates playing the piano like his father, a bar professional, and manages to be admitted to Montmartre Academy as a painter, where he befriends an SS officer who helps him survive the occupation. After the war, he chooses to become a performing artist and adopts the stage name Serge Gainsbourg. His unorthodox songs bring him success, even his parents's approval, and lots of lovers, yet his marriages are all utter failures. Written by KGF Vissers

Plot Keywords
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Certification

Additional Details

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Also Known As
  • Gainsbourg (World-wide, English title)
  • Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (United States)
  • Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (United Kingdom)
  • Gainsbourg - Der Mann, der die Frauen liebte (Germany)
  • Gainsbourg - Popstar, Poet, Provokateur (Germany)
  • See more »
Runtime
  • 135 min
Official Sites
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Language
Color
Aspect Ratio
Sound Mix
Filming Locations

Box Office

Budget EUR11,500,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend France EUR2,810,500, 24 Jan 2010

Did You Know?

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Trivia The project was originally envisioned with Serge Gainsbourg's real life daughter, actress Charlotte Gainsbourg to play him in keeping with the film's surreal and fairytale-esque tone. Six months into rehearsals and preparation Gainsbourg pulled out telling director Joann Sfar, it was proving too emotionally painful and he would have to make his "beautiful film" without her. Sfar had always approached the film with her in mind and was ready to abort the project when fate lead him to Eric Elmosnino. See more »
Goofs The young Gainsbourg is shown drawing left-handed, but the adult Gainsbourg becomes right-handed. See more »
Movie Connections Featured in Episode #5.128 (2010). See more »
Soundtracks Valse de Melody See more »
Crazy Credits "Pour Lucy" i.e. this was Lucy Gordon 's last film. See more »
Quotes Serge Gainsbourg: [after a man tips him while he plays the piano] What are you fucking kidding me? I'm not a jukebox!
See more »

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