Charlotte for Ever (film)

1986 film by Serge Gainsbourg

10 December 1986 (1986-12-10)

Running time

94 minCountryFranceLanguageFrench

Charlotte for Ever is a 1986 feature film directed by Serge Gainsbourg, starring himself, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Roland Bertin and Roland Dubillard [es; fr; gl; ht; no] .

Plot

Once a successful Hollywood screenwriter, Stan is now a depressive alcoholic who spends most of his time mooching about his house whilst pouring out his troubles to his drinking partner. The only thing that keeps him going is his love for his teenage daughter, Charlotte, but she despises him, believing him to be responsible for the accident in which her mother died. Stan's one hope is to patch things up with Charlotte.

Cast

Charlotte Gainsbourg as Charlotte
Serge Gainsbourg as Stan
Roland Bertin as Leon
Roland Dubillard [es; fr; gl; ht; no] as Herman
Anne Zamberlan as Lola
Anne Le Guernec as Adelaide

Production

Charlotte Gainsbourg has only bad memories of the shooting of this film. She has stated her father made her push her limits despite her young age. "He made me go too far, do things that bothered me. It was difficult. I sulked on the covers of the newspapers, I didn't want to make any effort, that was my way of preserving myself," she recalls.^[1]

Controversy

In 1984, two years before Charlotte for Ever was released Gainsbourg had written and performed the song Lemon Incest with his daughter, Charlotte Gainsbourg. The song was hugely controversial as it contained references to incest and pedophilia which audiences suspected were partially autobiographical.^[2] The movie Charlotte for Ever explored similar themes. Due to Charlotte Gainsbourg's age and the fact that she was playing a character with the same name as her own while her real life father was playing her father in the movie, the movie was reviled and questions about whether Gainsbourg was abusing his daughter were once again raised.^[3] As an adult Charlotte Gainsbourg repeatedly defended her relationship with her father, admitting that he had meant to provoke audiences but denying any impropriety or abuse towards herself.^[4]

References

^ ""Il me faisait aller trop loin" : Charlotte Gainsbourg sur ses souvenirs de tournage avec son père". closermag.fr. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 2022-01-28.
^ O'Hagan, Sean (10 January 2010). "Charlotte Gainsbourg: 'I had no idea how scared I was of dying'". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
^ Gorman, Francine (28 February 2011). "Serge Gainsbourg's 20 most scandalous moments". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
^ Hunter-Tilney, Ludovic. "'I like being manipulated'". Retrieved 21 September 2015.