DVD: La Vie En Rose


A terrible movie with a great performance

It's true. Marian Cotillard loses herself in the role of Edith Piaf, the little Sparrow, in la Vie En Rose. Kudos to her and to the makeup artists who somehow pull off having her age from 20 to a very haggard 47 years old. (Cotillard is actually in her 30s.)

But a big thumbs down to the rest of this movie. It's an unholy mess that leaves you confused and unsatisfied.

I get the whole jumping back and forth in time thing, but the director doesn't know how to edit his love for this convention. We go from Piaf's squalid childhood to her declining years back to her early discovery as a songstress to her dying moments back to her peak years as a beloved international superstar to her last public performance.

And back and forth and back and forth and back and forth.

Until you realize you have no idea what came when and how any of it really informed any of the rest of it.

What? She's married? When did that happen, and who is that?

Oh, all this time I thought this guy in her entourage was an older version of an early influence. But no, there's that guy in a later scene. thanks for making the two actors look alike, and thanks for never actually explaining who any of the people around her were or how they showed up in her life.

What, I thought her young friend was carted off to the juvenile authority, never to be heard from again? Here she is years later, and we never hear another word about what happened in the intervening years.

And so on and so forth.

None of it adds up to anything. None of it particular seems to explain, evoke or arise from anything else. Cotillard has many wonderful acting moments, but frankly they are acting through and through. It doesn't feel like you're watching a person's life on screen, but rather a theatrical presentation about said life. Might work better as a musical adaptation for the stage than screen.

And you never get to see her perform La Vie en Rose.

Talk about gypped!

If you're a Piaf fan you might want to see it for the performance, but if you were hoping for an exploration of what creates a great artist and great artistry? Skip it.

Posted: Fri - February 22, 2008 at 10:29 PM       EmailFeedback

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