Since 1965, Michel Sardou has sung a lot. And talked some more. Hundreds of hours of interviews, two autobiographies, books and confessions. The singer gives rhythm to the lives of the French and, as he delivers his final concerts, here he is in the first part of the evening on France 3 for a two-hour interview with Augustin Trapenard. “Sardou. Self-portrait” is a delicate and perilous exercise: the singer speaks, but does not confide; tells by twisting (sometimes) the facts; repeat by changing version. The video archives are numerous, but worn to the limit. If the documentary does not have the freshness of that of Laurent Luyat, broadcast in 2017, and does not escape a feeling of “déjà-vu” (song from 1994), it has the merit of giving the floor to a Sardou who leafs through “the album of his life” (1990 title) with more authenticity. A “best of” with a few new ones, in short.
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The artist returns to his parents, “
variety artists
”. Son of Fernand and Jackie, he is a child of the ball who moves from studios to provincial stages. “
I didn’t have the curiosity to know my parents. We never asked personal questions. We were three reflections sharing a common life
,” says Sardou, melancholic and poetic. After a few difficult years, “
the son of
” takes flight; Jacky and Fernand become “
the parents of
”. The successes pile up. First the drinking songs (
Les Bals populaire, J'habite en France
), then the controversies (
Je suis pour, Le Temps des colonies, J'accuse
), the triumph of the 1980s (
Les Lacs du Connemara, être une women, Muslims
).
“I’m not reacting”
Missing the depth of the 1990s and the renewal of the third millennium. We remain slightly unsatisfied, but Sardou revives, like in an average song, thanks to his frankness. “
I never liked my face, I never liked my physique: not tall enough, my head too round, my forehead too high. I never forget my mother’s remark: “Son, you have no neck.” Being popular, despite what the snobbish people think, is a godsend. Few men can boast of it
, admits Michel Sardou.
What joy does one find in singing for a chapel or a clan? You might as well become a priest. A crowd in front of you welcoming you is extraordinary, it's even better than love.
»
Trapenard captures the best of the singer: a prolific author, sometimes sensitive (
We won't have a child
), often courageous and from time to time surpassed by Delanoë (a "
grump with whom I never agreed. He was of a rectilinear line
"). “
I'm not reactionary, I'm not extreme right. I'm a “Gaullist right”, that's louder than the rest.
»
I don't give easily, I don't take easily, but that doesn't mean I'm wild
Michel Sardou
As in a singing tour, there are the essentials: the women in his life (including a very beautiful tribute to Anne-Marie Périer), politics (Mitterrand's passion for his discography), his friendship with Johnny ("
C "was a rocker, but his best songs were very French songs
"),
France
("
When you are a boat and you say I, you are everyone") or his aborted career as an actor ("When you are a boat and you say I, you are everyone
") or his aborted acting career ("
It's not my job. I wasn't very good. You have to learn a job
." “The Voice of People”, as an Anglo-Saxon newspaper nicknamed it, brushes aside its bear character – while it illustrated one of its autobiographies with this animal. “
I don’t give easily, I don’t take easily, but that doesn’t mean I’m wild.
»
This March 29, Michel Sardou will give his last concert in Brest. “
I’m retiring,”
he announced a little earlier to Le
Parisien. I'm finally going to breathe.
» At the same time, on France 3, he delivers his confession to Augustin Trapenard, undoubtedly the most sincere, which will delight his fans. His final words? “
Shows are better than a drug. Drugs, when you land, you're bad. There, you never land.
»