De Serge Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre de 1958 - 1991 (1994)

Gainsbourg is most famous for "Je t'aime... moi non plus", the sleazy duet he sang with his then girlfriend Jane Birkin and the only song ever forbidden by the Pope.

In France he was more of a superstar. He also wrote "Poupée de cire, poupée de son", sung by France Gall who won the Eurovision Songfestival with it. In 1968 he had a short but controversial relationship with Brigitte Bardot, then considered one of the most beautiful women on earth. He set the lyrics of the French national anthem to reggae in 1979. He sang a duet with his daughter Charlotte (then 15) called "Lemon Incest" - you translate it....

This 2 DVD set collects an enormous amount of clips, interviews and live-recordings by Gainsbourg. In fact, I don't think there's anything left out except for his appearances in movies.

There are several highlights on the discs: there's the live interview on French TV where he asks Whitney Houston to f*** him (he was never to appear live on TV again); a live duet with Jane Birkin singing "Comic Strip"; an alternate version of "Je Suis Venu te Dire Que j'en vais"; and many more.

This DVD has been released only in France and it's a region 2 PAL DVD, so it won't be of much use for fans living in the US. Furthermore it is not subtitled and completely in French.

When I got this DVD I watch it from beginning to end in a day - four hours of material - and I recommended it to every Gainsbourg fan that does not already own it.