Success, failures, rebounds, addictions, life in permanent speeding, Johnny Hallyday is told in a Netflix documentary series, broadcast from Tuesday March 29. Far from the usual hagiographies, the five episodes of Johnny by Johnny paint a captivating portrait of the former youth idol far from the usual hagiographies.
From his first television to his first hit Memories memories, released in 1969, nothing is forgotten. “Very young, he already sang very well and very young, he knew exactly what he wanted“, comments Jean-François Chenut, author of Johnny, his concerts, his most beautiful love story. From the start, the “Taulier” put on a show, while fearing failure.
“Abandoned by his parents, he will be raised by an aunt. No lasting relationship with young people of his age. He never went to school, he was very lonely“, relates Jean-François Chenut. The artist has always been inspired by his life for his songs. In the documentary, Johnny Hallyday is presented in his many facets, those of a man who gave everything for the stage.
A popular idea is that Johnny Hallyday, who died in December 2017, did not say much in the countless TV interviews given in more than 50 years of career. False. His outspokenness is the flavor of these five episodes of 35 minutes each, based on archives, often drawn from oblivion and accompanied by voice-over testimonies, without jargon, like Pascal Obispo who worked with him.
There are nuggets. “I’m quite a liar (…) I can’t help it”, thus one day releases the “Taulier” facing the camera. “Each time we unearthed an interview, we were struck by its frankness, which means that the story is held together by Johnny’s voice, even if we sometimes have witnesses to go a little further”. dissects for AFP Eric Hannezo, boss of Black Dynamite (company of the Mediawan group) which produces the documentary series in association with Universal Music France.
The result is a full portrait of the man who was the favorite rocker of the French, between a bang and a dark face. he famous interview with Johnny given to the newspaper The world in 1998 caused a stir at the time, because he spoke candidly about his relationship with drugs. But in the Netflix series we also hear the interpreter of Light the fire indulge in the rhythm to keep on tour, avoiding appearing on stage with the “dilated nostrils”a reference to cocaine.
The border between legend and reality is drawn over the episodes. No, he never shook hands with Elvis Presley when leaving the stage as he led people to believe, establishes the documentary directed by Alexandre Danchin and Jonathan Gallaud. Yes, on the other hand, Charles Aznavour took him under his wing and scammed him to build an image.
Johnny by Johnny catches the spectator with a dramaturgy served by a clever soundtrack: in addition to extracts from the concerts, we hear guitar riffs when the artist revives and electro pieces announce the setbacks. Enough to attract purists and others, especially a young audience who will be able to understand “the romantic dimension of the last sacred monster” French show biz, as summarized by Eric Hannezo.
Johnny, over the interviews, consciously or not opens the various drawers of his life. The archive images navigate between a singer with insane shows (kung-fu fights and giant hand on stage), an actor who has gone through action and auteur cinema, a megastar with a crazy lifestyle and a lucid man when taking stock of marital and family life.
We realize that Johnny very quickly lived non-stop under the eyes of the fans, like the young girls collecting the cigarette butts thrown around his home, and the TV cameras. In the balance, the artist used the media cleverly, was honest and also got tricked.