Cannabis

AMG Review of Cannabis

Thom Jurek
All Music Guide

Issued on CD as part of Universal France's Essentials of Cinema series, Serge Gainsbourg's soundtracks to Michel Colombier's 1968 Ce Sacre Grand-Pere, and Pierre Koralnik's scandalous Cannabis, are among the most startling pieces of music in his oeuvre. Cannabis was based around a tawdry thriller and was set by Pierre Koralnik in the free, lone-generation of the late 1960s, and starred none other than Gainsbourg and wife Jane Birkin. The film, a kind of revenge tale featured lots of gratuitous (real) sex and was a commercial flop. But its score is one of the most sophisticated pieces of music Gainsbourg ever conceived. The score is a wondrously aroque and anthemic ock score with elements of Middle Eastern folk songs, and a pop cabaret joviality (courtesy of Jean-Claude Vannier's loopy song "I Want To Be Crazy," sung by Birkin with a drugged-out string section). It was orchestrated for a complete army of electric guitars, harpsichord, strings, and the loudest bassline ever threaded through a French movie. It's truly amazing. The score the to the Colombier film is tacked on as bonus material, and is far more traditional, but has enough pop-rock charm and nutty electric guitar and Hammond B3 play to make it a worthy add on to Cannabis. This is essential listening for any Gainsbourg or '60s soundtrack fan. In addition to the music are killer stills from Cannabis, and a brutally honest translated interview with Koralnik.