La Vie En Rose stars Marion Cotillard as famed French singer Edith Piaf. The film gives us a glimpse into her life, dating back to her youth in a brothel and circus, later as a young woman singing for money on the streets of Paris, then being discovered before the onset of WWII by Louis Leplee (played by Gerard Depardieu), to her rise to fame playing the music halls of France, touring the U.S., falling in love with Middleweight World Champion Marcel Cerdan (played by Jean-Pierre Martins), illness, addiction, failed performances, career rebirths, et all.I went into this movie having no solid background on the history of Edith Piaf. I have heard her songs plenty, knew she died young, and is beloved in France. Due to my lack of historical knowledge, and having to rely on subtitles to understand the dialogue, I found it confusing at times trying to keep track of what exactly was the health related problem affecting Piaf in the current scene. The movie also jump around chronologically, so it kinda compounded the problem for me.
Marion Cotillard was absolutely fabulous in this film. Wow-y-wow-wow. She really charted Piaf's life and navigated it so well. And even as much of a bitch as Piaf could be, Cotillard still kept her so likeable. She had these moments in scenes from Piaf's time singing in cabarets and on the street, and she would turn her head away and look to her side while singing, and those moments are just ingrained in my mind. Her eyes stay with you. Cotillard is also a bit of a singer herself, so I know she must have sang some parts of the movie, but I don't know which ones. Other moments sound just like recordings I've heard before, so I know they must have also used source material.
P.S. - Pauline Burlet, who plays 10 year old Edith has some WICKED pipes on her! Her a capella La Marseillaise kinda blew my mind.
I liked the cinematography of this as well. There's a grittiness inherent in scenes from Piaf's youth, and this beautiful gloss to scenes later when she's gotten hugely famous. It really helps to define the movie, and executed quite well.
Some points played a bit melodramatic for me (and I guess that might have just been par for the course for Piaf's life), but overall the movie leaves you with a really haunting feeling. Painful, almost. You know how it's going to end (and I guess this is one reason it stayed on my shelf for a bit), but the journey is so worth it. The ending number, Non Je Ne Regrette Rien, was astounding. It pulls all the right heart strings, and kudos to director Olivier Dahan for doing it justice. It didn't go over the cliffs of sappiness.
All in all, give this one a watch. It's an excellent ride, and well worth any tears that might be shed. No one will judge you.
