Cloclo (2012)
Directed by Florent-Emilio Siri

Film Review

After Edith Piaf (La Môme, 2007) and Serge Gainsbourg (Serge Gainsbourg, vie héroïque, 2010), another French singing legend, Claude François, gets the full-on biopic treatment.  The man who is considered the Elvis Presley of French popular music, Claude François (nicknamed Cloclo) enjoys enduring popularity in France, and an iconic status which is partly attributable to the fact that he died tragically young (he accidentally killed himself by electrocution at the age of 39).   François is famously the man who, in collaboration with composer Jacques Revaux, created the song Comme d'habitude, which subsequently became an international hit when it was reworked as My Way, the song that was to be Frank Sinatra's signature tune.

Florent-Emilio Siri's biographical account of the life and death of Claude François is a predictably overblown affair which, amidst a blitz of tired platitudes and clichés, reveals surprisingly little about the singer that is not already common knowledge.  Just about everyone in France knows that François was an inveterate womaniser, obsessive workaholic and monomaniac tyrant.  Whilst the film does not, to its credit, shy away from the uglier side of its subject (you cannot help wondering why such an obnoxious individual is still held in such high esteem), it does nothing to challenge the public perception of the singer and fails dismally to reveal the man behind the myth.  The film will doubtless appeal to fans of Claude François, but anyone expecting a probing deconstruction of the singer and his life is unlikely to be impressed by a film that offers no more than a series of pretty vacuous vignettes that leave nothing to the imagination.

Better known for his big budget actions films - Nid de guêpes (2002), Hostage (2005) and L'Ennemi intime (2007) - Florent-Emilio Siri is a surprising choice to direct a biopic.  Whilst the director's penchant for spectacle is put to good use in the film's grand set-pieces, Siri struggles with the more low-key dramatic scenes, which tend to resemble bland excerpts from an Australian soap opera.  The first two-thirds of the film is heavily weighed down by its mechanical plotting and reliance on stock clichés, inspiration and imagination both clearly lacking.  Siri manages to partly redeem himself in the final, more visually arresting third part of the film, which does convey something of the frenzied mania that overtook Claude François in his final years as success drove him to the limits of paranoid monomania, however, by this stage, most spectators will probably have given up and left the theatre.

If the film falls far short of brilliance on both the directing and writing fronts, the same cannot be said of the actor who has the unenviable job of portraying Claude François on screen 34 years after his death.  Jérémie Renier throws himself body and soul into his role and gives a performance that surpasses everyone's expectations.   Incredibly, before he took on the role, Renier had absolutely no experience as a dancer or singer and consequently had to submit himself to an intensive five months of coaching before he was ready to step into François's shoes. Whilst Renier is far from being a perfect double of Claude François, his highly physical portrayal is uncannily near the mark and there are a few scenes where you can easily convince yourself that Renier has been completely taken over by the spirit of Cloclo.  Without a doubt, Renier's turbo-charged performance is easily the best thing about this film, and if the actor fails to win a César next year it won't be through want of trying.  He could always start a new career, as a musician...

Film Synopsis

Growing up in Egypt in the 1950s, Claude François had a mostly happy childhood in the company of his adoring mother and sister.  The Suez crisis precipitated the return of the François family to France, and not long after Claude made up his mind that he would become a singer, much to the chagrin of his father.  At first, Claude had difficulty making a name for himself, but he persevered and with the support of the producer Jean-François Tilche he had his first hit single Belle, belle, belle.  Claude Francois's rise to fame was swift and through his fruitful partnership with another producer, Paul Lederman, he became one of the most popular French singers of his generation.  He had wealth, he had success, he had prestige, but he needed something else - the love of women.  This is where his problems began...