New on Disney+: Jane par Charlotte, the Charlotte Gainsbourg documentary - Reviews

"Jane par Charlotte" is the first feature film to be directed by Charlotte Gainsbourg in 2021. The film is being added to the Disney+ catalog this Friday, November 17, so it's time to rediscover it! For this first documentary film, actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg has chosen to expose her mother as never before. We discover an intimate portrait of the woman who shared Serge Gainsbourg's life for 12 years.

"Jane par Charlotte" also highlights the unique relationship between Jane, the mother, and Charlotte, the daughter. Shot over a period of several years, this documentary reveals the exchanges between these two artists, so beloved by the French public.

Trailer

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Our review

For her very first film, Charlotte Gainsbourg chose to film her mother, Jane Birkin, over a period of 4 years, from Japan to Brittany, via New York and Paris.

Initially, this project, which had no written script, was purely personal," says the actress and director, "in order to get closer to her mother. In the end,"Jane par Charlotte" was released on the big screen, and so much the better. It reveals a Jane Birkin who is touching, sincere and funny, but also so messy she can't throw anything away.

"Jane par Charlotte" is also a succession of exchanges and confidences between mother and daughter, evoking the sometimes complicated relationship between parents and children, as well as memories, mourning and transmission...

The initial modesty between Jane and Charlotte gradually gives way to a more natural and obvious complicity, culminating in a magnificent declaration of love (from a distance) from a daughter to her mother. Another highlight is when Charlotte takes Jane Birkin to Serge Gainsbourg's house, where the latter had not set foot since the singer's death in 1991. We also appreciate some of the lighter exchanges, for example when the two women share their common passion for dogs.

With the advice of her editor, Charlotte Gainsbourg uses a variety of filming methods (of varying quality), as well as photography, to create a beautiful first film that is both intimate and moving, with an inevitably successful soundtrack.