Song Of The Day 6/28/2013: Jacques Dutronc - "L'Opportuniste"

Scopitone Week: This is one of the few Scopitone films I was able to find post-heyday. The headline says it was made in 1969, and I have no reason to disbelieve that. Jacques Dutronc is a major figure in French rock, one of those who shepherded the form out of the chanson age (his wife, Françoise Hardy, was one of the best singers in that style and a personal favorite of mine). In a country bursting with renaissance men, Dutronc is a Bowie-esque maverick and an award-winning film actor. He's even called out by name in Cornershop's hit "Brimful of Asha." And in this visually striking Scopitone film, he's a scrubbed Beck/Thurston Moore figure carousing around the greatest piece of playground equipment ever developed, with a blunt whose girth would make Cheech & Chong green with envy. (Well, there's a label on the thing, which would indicate it's a tobacco cigar, but let's keep the dream alive.)