A swirling, impressionistic portrait of an
artist who regretted nothing, writer-director Olivier
Dahan's La Vie en Rose stars 2005 Cesar Award-winner Marion
Cotillard (A Very Long
Engagement, A Good Year) in a blazing performance as the
legendary French icon Edith Piaf.
Perhaps finding her nearest American analogues in figures
such as Judy Garland and Billie Holiday, the tragic story of
the world-famous chanteuse is worthy of a 19th Century novel
by Zola or Balzac. From the mean streets of the Belleville
district of Paris to the dazzling limelight of New York's
most famous concert halls, Piaf's life was a constant battle
to sing and survive, to live and love. Born into abject
poverty, surrounded by street performers, hookers, and
pimps, Piaf's magical voice made her a star on both sides of
the Atlantic.
Raised in her grandmother's brothel, Piaf was discovered in
1935 by nightclub owner Louis Leplée (Gérard Depardieu), who
persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness. This,
combined with her diminutive height (4' 8”), inspired Leplée
to give the singer the nickname that would stay with her the
rest of her life, La Môme Piaf (“The Little Sparrow”).
Piaf's passionate romances and friendships with some of the
greatest names of the era-Charlie Chaplin, Jean Cocteau,
Yves Montand, and Marlene Deitrich, who famously remarked
that Piaf's voice is “the soul of Paris”-made her a
household name as much as her unforgettable renditions of
the songs she made famous, including “Hymne à l'amour”
(1949), “Milord” (1959), and “Non, je ne regrette rien”
(1960). The title of the film is from Piaf's signature song
“La Vie en Rose” (1946), a love song which translates into
English as “The Life in Pink.”
But in her audacious attempt to tame her tragic destiny, the
Little Sparrow flew so high that she could not fail to burn
her wings. The great love of Piaf's life, Middleweight
boxing champion Marcel Cerdan, died in a plane crash in
1949. Piaf developed a serious morphine addiction following
a car accident in 1951, and eventually succumbed to cancer
in 1963, dying at the untimely age of forty-seven. Piaf
remains, however, one of France's immortal icons, her voice
one of the indelible signatures of the 20th Century.
©2007
Picture House. All rights reserved.
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People Movie Review
La Vie En Rose
|
Preston |
100 |
The best movie on the circuit at this
time, probably one of the few movies
worth seeing, although it is not in
chronological order, chronology is
unneccessary to tell this incomparable
story. Oliver Dahan's first film shows
more than promise for his career as a
director. The music is miraculously
digitally remastered, and although
Marion Cotillard lip-syncs it is very
easy to mistake Edith Piaf's voice for
her own. The acting is brilliant,
although graphically disturbing at
times, the
scenery is remarkable, and Oliver Dahan
is well on his way in breaking through
the American movie experience. |
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