A few weeks ago my fiancé rented a few movies. Usually we watch comedies, action movies, The Sopranos, and of course I like my occasional Romance. But this time he comes back with an independent film entitled La Vie En Rose, the story of Edith Piaf. I was not to thrilled because the film was completely in French. But after the first two minutes of the film I was completely hooked.
Edith Piaf was a French cabaret singer and is known to be the voice of France. She had a very difficult life as she was growing up. She was abandoned by her mother and later her father. She was a party girl who spent many days and nights drunk and high. She was later discovered by a nightclub owner and after that point her career skyrocketed. I was especially drawn to the music in this movie. All of the songs except for four were original recordings of Edith Piaf. The way that they edited her music throughout the film really drew you into the story.
The film is best known for the leading actress who played Piaf, Marion Cotillard, who won an Oscar for Best actress and a Golden Globe. In my opinion she had one of the best performances that I have ever seen. She had to play different stages in Piaf’s life. When she was old it was believable. She also did an amazing job at lip-syncing which many professionals are not good at. (a.k.a Ashlee Simpson). This film also won many awards for make-up. One of the most impressive transformations in the film occurred when they had to transform Cotillard into an old woman. I watched the special features for the film and learned that it took hours for them to put on every wrinkle and age spot. The transformation really enhanced great acting proved to be amazing.
This film was written and directed by Olivier Dahan, who is “ one of the most visually exciting and emotionally adept French film makers working in the cinema today” This film was a powerful and emotion filled film. Dahan made really great transitions. It had the invisible feel like many Hollywood films have. Also the editing and adding songs performed by Piaf.
I would recommend this movie to everyone especially if you enjoy cabaret music. The French and subtitles were a little hard to get used to but after you become involved with story you forget that they are speaking a different language. I would also recommend searching you-tube for segments of Edith Piaf “the voice of France”.
~Antonina Centinario
1 comment:
I saw this film, because of the hype that was created about it during the time of the Oscars. And once Marion Cotillard won the Oscar for best leading actress, Blockbuster carried a million of them, so I rented it. I felt Marion Cotillard deserved the Oscar, her depiction of Edith Piaf was so astounding, I was completely drawn into the film at once. What I also enjoyed about the film was that it doesn’t go into chronological order, the film kept switching back and forth from when Piaf was a child back to various times in her adult hood. The way I was able to gage to what aspect we were in the life of Piaf was to determine how out of control her drug/alcohol habit was. And because of the incredible makeup and acting, this wasn’t that hard to do. I really enjoyed this film.
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