Gainsbourg and His Girls

The Captain had Tennille, Buckingham had Nicks — and Gainsbourg had Birkin, Bardot, Deneuve, Karina, Hardy, Gall, Greco, Adjani, Faithfull, Paradis, Barbara, Bambou, Dalida, etc. The CD collection of people who have sung the songs of Serge over the years could comprise a whopping 4-disc set of 98 tracks, with easily over 90% of them by women. Gainsbourg’s been called a scoundrel, pervert and misogynist, yet female singers in France felt it a seminal moment in their career to sing a song penned by the rogue. For the breezy, hip-shaking feature documentary Gainsbourg And His Girls, writers Didier Varrod and Pascal Forner raided the archives of INA (Institute Nationale Audio-Visuel), where pretty much all of nationally-owned French TV from the early ‘60s and onwards is held. And boy, was nationally-owned French TV ever cool! Comprised entirely of luxurious file footage, the interviews of Serge throughout his career in display are substantive, and at times conducted by other artists like Françoise Hardy or Jane Birkin. This is an essential deep look at the artist who most Americans only know of through his sly, seductive provocateur mask. –Cinefamily