La Vie En Rose (2007) Movie Information:

La Vie En Rose (2007) Directed by: Oliver Dahan La Vie En Rose (2007) Written by: Oliver Dahan La Vie En Rose (2007) Cast: Marion Cotillard, Gerard Depardieu

La Vie En Rose (2007) U.S. Distributor: Picturehouse La Vie En Rose (2007) U.K. Distributor: Icon Film Distribution

Our Rating: User Rating:  Log in to rate this movie

La Vie En Rose (2007) Synopsis:

Biopic of Edith Piaf

La Vie En Rose (2007) Movie Review:

Marion Cotillard's staggering performance is the main event in this Edith Piaf biopic. Without her, the film would be somewhat incoherent, even though the story is an astonishing one.

Edith's life was rough from the start, discarded by her prostitute mother (Courau), her madam grandmother and her circus contortionist father (Rouve), she grows up on the rough streets of Paris, singing with her friend (Testud) for money. Then a music producer (Depardieu) launches her career, which hits bump after bump, usually involving even more tragedy. And sometimes love, such as when she falls hard for a boxer (Martins). By the time she's in her 40s, she's a shattered wreck of addictions and injuries. And yet she has to keep singing.

Piaf is played at ages 5 and 10 by Chevallier and Burlet, respectively, then from 16 to 47 by Cotillard. All three are terrific, but Cotillard's sheer range is breathtaking, as is the way she holds each scene in the palm of her hand, capturing the diva of all divas and keeping her edgy, witty, cruel and deeply likeable, all at the same time. Her supporting cast is also superb, and the film's terrific production design holds it together beautifully.

Filmmaker Dahan chooses to tell the story by jumping back and forth through the chronology, from 1918 to 1963. A few flashes back and forward would have been fine, but the film never settles into a proper rhythm, and we never quite fit the events together. This makes it increasingly difficult to engage with the story or characters, and some bad editing choices in the final sequence botch what could have been the much more powerful punch of Piaf's masterpiece, "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien".

Watching her fall into ill health due to an addiction to pain killers and booze strongly echoes Judy Garland. Seeing her desperation for fame and control over her artistic choices is reminiscent of Madonna. It's a little simplistic to reduce her life to these elements (and to leave out, for example, her amazing work for the French Resistance), but this is still a lushly produced, fascinating film about one of the 20th century's most remarkable artists.

Our Rating: User Rating:  Log in to rate this movie

La Vie En Rose (2007) review written by: Rich Cline