Cloclo (2012)

Directed by: Florent-Emilio Siri | 143 minutes | biography, drama, music | Actors: Jérémie Renier, Benoît Magimel, Monica Scattini, Sabrina Seyvecou, ​​Ana Girardot

The name Claude Francois will sound familiar to few. Yet this Frenchman was the writer and first performer of the song “Comme d’habitude”, which would later become world famous as “My Way” by Frank Sinatra. Claude Francois (nickname Cloclo) was a successful singer in the 60s and 70s and more than thirty years after his death, he still sells many records in France. ‘Cloclo’ is a beautiful and colorful biopic of a singer who lived for music, but in his private life offended a lot of people and eventually died tragically at the age of 38. He turned on a broken light in the bath and was electrocuted. The film portrays his life without losing sight of the fact that the best man was just a person who wasn’t always right.

The film is chronological and opens in the colorful Egypt of the 1950s, where Claude is born to a French father and Italian mother. The François family is well off and Claude has a good relationship with his warm mother and sister. However, his father is an authoritarian man in whose eyes things can always be better. The cheerful and above all musical Claude does everything to please his father. After the family has to flee Egypt and they have to move into a small apartment in Monaco, things don’t work out between Claude and his father. Claude’s father is bitter and wants Claude to work for the bank. But the young and naive Claude wants to make music and becomes a drummer in an orchestra. Occasionally he is also allowed to sing and the audience reacts positively to him. After months of harassing a record company, Claude is allowed to release a single that hopelessly flops. The singer is broken and takes it out on his lover and family. But persistence wins and Claude is still allowed to release a record that hits like a bomb. A new star in France is born.

The film is very long at 2.5 hours and yet you hardly notice it. ‘Cloclo’ has a lot of momentum and that has everything to do with the catchy script and a brilliant lead actor. Actor Jérémie Renier not only physically resembles the singer but is the singer in the film. He makes Claude a real person with all his good and bad sides. He pops off the screen as a musician who will do anything for his music and you really hate him when he is sickly jealous and insufferable to his staff. However, it is the drive that has arisen through insecurity and a morbid urge for perfection that is brilliantly displayed by the Belgian actor. The other actors really only serve to support Renier, but that never bothers. The singer is really the star of the movie. It only makes his early death all the more tragic.

Music plays an important role in Claude’s life and therefore also in film. The scenes in which the singer sings often feel like a clip due to the editing and use of color. It fits well with the tone of the film and the often swinging music ensures that the viewer is completely absorbed in the sixties atmosphere. The fact that the singer was also immensely popular with the girls is clearly shown in a beautiful scene that was shot in one take. Claude leaves his apartment and as he gets into his car he is overwhelmed by the girls. Even during the short and slow ride to the studio, he is still attacked in the car. It shows the lack of privacy well but also demonstrates that Claude lives for the attention of his fans.

‘Cloclo’ is a compelling biopic about a passionate singer who lived for music and who could be insufferable to those around him because of his insecurity. The colorful sixties are beautifully portrayed and after seeing the film you immediately want to look up the music of Claude François. “My Way” will never be the same again.