La Vie en Rose

[Jim3k]

It’s been out for a while, but the French film La Vie en Rose (aka La Môme) is worth seeing. I saw it Sunday afternoon and enjoyed it, though it’s a bit long, and I began to feel uncomfortable with its pace. In French, with subtitles.
The film is supposed to be a biopic about Edith Piaf, a French songstress of the middle of the last century, known to the French as the Sparrow. The American title arises from her major American hit, La Vie en Rose. It’s the classic story of the rise of a dirt-poor nobody to national icon. Plus, the film can rightfully be criticized for omitting her role as a hero of the French Underground during World War II. She was also the discoverer and lover of Yves Montand, but that portion was omitted as well. In fact, the movie kind of downplays her marriages in favor of a love affair she had with a middleweight boxing champion, Marcel Cerdan, a French-Algerian.

Instead, we are treated to a marvelous performance by French actress Marion Cotillard who portrays Piaf from about 18 to her death at 47 in 1963. She is also played by some very good child actresses from 3 to about 15. Cotillard, though, gives a bravura performance in a movie which does not live up to her talent. In fact, her performance earned the 2007 French Oscar, known as the Golden Swann, for best actress.

Piaf’s life is filled with hardship and tragedy and Cotillard acts her way through the lows and highs. Her early years were in her grandmother’s brothel, where the ladies mothered her. She was also blind during some of that time. She then lived with her father in circus. She sang in the streets of Paris and eventually was discovered for the nightclubs. In 1951 she was hurt in an auto accident and became dependent on opiates. The film also makes Piaf appear to suffer from some nervous disorder as well as developing the hunchback look seen in the elderly. All the while, she is a diva, an ailing diva, but Cotillard gives her power as she fails. Cotillard's aging process is quite wonderful.

The movie is a bit disjointed due to the flashbacks and flash forwards. This, of course, avoids the tedium of chronology, but also puts the movie off-center. We do get to see Cerdan beating Tony Zale in New York in 1949. And we see her make her final performance with her “No Regrets” song.

All in all, it’s worth a look, if only for Cotillard’s performance . It’s a good movie, and a bit too long, but for best foreign film of the year, I’d stick with The Black Book.

[mapei]

I'm definitely interested in seeing lVeR - thanks for the review!