La Vie En Rose (2 Disc Special Edition) [DVD] [2007]

Don't plan to see this film and then go out for a lively night on the town. You will be so spent after the one hundred forty-one minutes of this gut-wrenching film that when the lights come on at the end, you'll need a minute to figure out where you are, and then additional downtime to process all you've seen. Days later, you'll still be thinking about this slice of life--and Piaf.

Piaf's story is well known to her long-time fans--brought up in a brothel, wrested from the only life she knew by her father so they could join the circus, her teen years on the streets, her "rescue" by a crime figure who gave her the start to her career, and, ultimately, her international success and final illness. She was always frail, sickly, malnourished, and wildly temperamental. She was often on drugs or alcohol, and she was always in search of true love (not finding it till late in her life). All this is depicted here with its horrors and its rare moments of tenderness, the cinematography (Tetsuo Nagata) so brilliant that the realistic, dark settings invite the reader's emotional entry into them and exploration of them.

Marion Cotillard becomes Piaf, a physical likeness that is uncanny in its realism (one wonders if she can ever play another part without conjuring up Piaf's image), and her emotional connection to Piaf's music is total. Her song performances are absolutely flawless, as are her gestures, and the only clue that she is lip-synching is the unmistakable Piaf voice that emerges from her mouth. Louis Leplee (Gerard Depardieu), the nightclub owner whose murder by organized crime draws Edith in for questioning, shows the genuine care he has for Edith and the tough face of a man who has seen and done it all.

Marcel Cerdan, the heavyweight boxer who captures her heart (Jean-Pierre Martins) gives her something to live for, besides her music--at least for a while--and it is genuinely affecting here to see how earthy and unaffected he is in her presence. The supporting actors, all French, are outstanding, and few viewers will forget Emmanuelle Seigner, playing prostitute Titine, who cared for Edith as a child.

The film belongs to Cotillard, however, and all aspects of the film, from the brilliant writing of Olivier Dahan (who also directed) and Isabelle Sobelman, to film editing (especially the lip-synching to Piaf's songs), and the sets, costuming, and makeup, are designed to enhance her performance. The film follows no chronology, jumping from her childhood to her old age and then to some of the high points of her career, creating an impressionistic film of some of the signal moments in her life. It is difficult to imagine any biopic that will ever come close to this one in its power, but then, again, it's difficult to imagine any singer who will ever capture the world's imagination in quite the way that Piaf did. Mary Whipple

Let's start with the cliche. This one happens to be true, so believe it: Marion Cotillard is every bit as awesome as you have already heard - she doesn't act Piaf, she IS Piaf!! Not only that, but she captures and bottles the singer through her formative years as an unknown street singer forking out protection money to a pimp, through her arrogant stardom and many tragedies, to sad and embittered old age (a relative concept since Piaf died before her 50th birthday with an abused body and the appearance of a 95-year old.) If Cotillard does not win Best Actress Oscar by a country mile, it will be proof positive of the unreasonable prejudice against foreign language films by the Hollywood establishment - there has not been a finer display of acting these past 30 years.

As for the film, it has its highs. In particular, the ambiance of Piaf's early years in Normandy and Paris have been captured to a tee. There are also fine cameo moments, such as Piaf's relationship with Marcel Cerdan and the shocking footage of her alcoholism and drug abuse. But a number of scenes may leave the audience slightly baffled, other than adding padding!

The wayward timeshifts in La Vie En Rose are a trifle bizarre, though some make sense - using the imagery of Milord to pinpoint her life as a young girl in a brothel run by her cold-hearted madame of a grandmother. The script also uses the splintered brain of the dying singer to pick out a kaleidoscope of images from her past. Inevitably, a big screen biopic omits many critical moments and rewrites history for dramatic effect, but here the emphasis is strongly on building up a portfolio of evidence for the woman and the hows and whys within her background. In many cases this works well, but the difficulty comes in that there is no unifying theme on which to hang the pegs.

My advice is just to take in what you see and piece it together - the results are well worthwhile! As a character study, this is as rounded and complete as any you will find. La Vie En Rose pulls no punches and portrays its subject warts and all. Piaf was not always a likeable personality but her voice dripped with the pain and emotion. Art imitating life? Maybe....

Of the three major films made about Edith Piaf, this is by far the best. There are simply not enough superlatives in the book to describe it. I would defy anyone to to watch this and not shed tears. There are flaws, of course. The director in his wisdom omits Piaf's heroism duting World War II, and the key men in Piaf's life are for some reason overlooked: Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Jaubert, Cocteau, and even second husband Theo Sarapo only gets a cursory mention. The magic of the film is the voice--thankfully we hear the real Piaf--and Mme Cotillard, who more than portrays Piaf, she BECOMES her. We also hear Piaf's idol, Damia! The scenes covering Piaf's last days in Cannes are truly heartbreaking. And so I give a word of warning to other producers. Don't even THINK of making another Piaf biopic, for this one will NEVER be bettered!
David Bret's "Piaf, A Passionate Life", is also available at Amazon