Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Movies: La Vie En Rose

The life and times of Edith Piaf, the gravelly-voiced French singer whose off-stage circumstances were often as interesting as her performances, is the subject of "La Vie En Rose," a film directed by Oliver Dahan:



The film follows a fractured timeline, especially considering its biographical nature. You skip to and fro through Piaf's life, tracing moments of tragedy and triumph. Most noteworthy through all this is Marion Cotillard's fine performance as Edith (it earned her pretty much every award in the book). Cotillard's Piaf goes through every emotional extreme imaginable, from love to despair to apathy. Most impressive are the scenes of an older Piaf, looking back at a life filled with incident.

I'd give a higher rating, but I think "La Vie En Rose" is a bit weak for omitting a huge portion of the 20th century - namely, World War II. Piaf's actions during the war are still shrouded in controversy, and I can't imagine this wasn't interesting enough material for this biopic.

Rating: 7/10

1 Comments:

At 6:43 AM, Blogger Kit van Cleave said...

Olivier Dahan wrote and diected this film for a French audience. As Piaf was an icon, greatest French singer of the 20th century, the French already know all about her life. Dahan has said over and over that he was making "an emotional biography." If someone made a biopic on Elvis for the US, he/she wouldn't be required to do all the details. We know them all. So a hand for Dahan's terrific movie, which has moved to many to tears. Bravo to Mlle. Cotillard, of course.

 

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