Review of La Vie en Rose (2007) by Christopher S — 07 Jan 2010

La Vie En Rose is nothing less than the best film of the decade; it embodies not only the singer, the period and the fears of age and death, but the mind. Oliver Dahan, the director, takes trips into consciousness, not only that of the French singer Edith Piaf, but of the audience. We follow the journey this woman takes from birth till death, through not rose-tinted glasses, as the title suggests, rather, a passive view of life. Edith Piaf was not a woman of particular elegance; she had a slight hunch, wispy hair and was loud, and rather rude. She was a diva, a flawed hero.

The trip that La Vie En Rose took me on was nothing short of a voyage, a transformation of mind. So rare do you find a movie so entwined with depth, voluntary or involuntary.

Edith was born in Paris, France in 1918. She grew up among whores and thieves, her father a contortionist, her mother a café singer. Spending most of her childhood life in a brothel run by her grandmother, she was forced to sing in front of a crowd aged fourteen, which was met with great applause, from there she never stopped.

The film skews between the past and the future in scenes that I felt most reminiscent of ?Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?. It emerges that we are seeing Piaf?s life through her decaying memory when she was aged 47, but looking much, much older; or are we? The movie wisely avoids an answer.

Piaf is played by the French actress Marion Cotillard, a woman I greatly admire, only having seen her in four movies, including this one. In real life, I?ve read that she has a presense, an image. She walks into a room and all eyes and ears are on her. Edith Piaf sang every song as if she was singing it to the audience; she exerted confidence and power, while seducing the audience with her voice. Perhaps this is why Dahan chose Cotillard to portray Piaf.

Oh, and what a portrayal! Cotillard embodies Piaf, it?s one of the greatest screen performances in the history of the cinema, and she becomes Piaf. Hell, she even looks like her. She becomes Piaf in any sense that somebody can. This is just as great a performance as Charlize Theron?s Aileen Wuornos in Monster or Robert DeNiro?s Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull.

Credit not only to Cotillard and the director, but to the make-up team; they have created the most realistic ?aging? effect that I have ever seen. She didn?t look like a turtle; she looked like an old lady, ironically playing somebody in their late forties. That is what living a life like that does to you, but what a life, what a spectacular life!

If my praise is not enough to convince you, watch it for yourself, will you enjoy it as much as I did? I hope so. This is a great feeling I am feeling right now, I know that I have seen something special, not only in what I?m positive is the birth of a star, but in a film that meant something deep to me.