Film Details:
La Vie En Rose (La Mome) (12A)
Drama (2007) 140mins Fr
Director: Olivier Dahan
Starring: Marion Cotillard, Jean-Pierre Martins, Pascale Greggory, Sylvie Testud

Biopic of Edith Piaf, beginning on the streets of Paris where she is abandoned by her mother, and left to fend for herself in a brothel, where prostitute Titine becomes her guardian. Demonstrating her singing talents to cabaret owner Louis Leplee, Edith evolves into a major celebrity and falls in love with boxing champion Marcel Cerdan, who is killed in an airplane accident, en route to be with her.

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LondonNet Film Review by Seth Graves
La Vie En Rose

If it weren't for Marion Cotillard's spectacular portrayal of 20th century French singer Edith Piaf, this movie would fall into some trouble...

The movie jumps all around the life of a woman who started in complete and utter poverty, literally singing in the streets to survive, to the most tragic, drug-dependent days of her global stardom. The movie is definitely a delight worth seeing, but also not enough to serve as biographic testimony for the life of Piaf.

The entire career of Piaf during World War II is barely brushed over, including no mention to her activism in the Resistance. There are some truly epic moments in the film that get their rightful cues, but when whole portions of Piaf's life are left out that seem more important, it's worth wondering about the judgement calls of the director. The long, silent pans across the image of elderly Piaf in her most ill and elderly state seem appropriate but too long in comparison to the meat of the work.

Various elements of the plot are only glossed over and left unexplained, others not justified, such as the public's rash decision to accuse Piaf of murdering her first recording contract agent and venue host. There are many short series of dramatic events meant to create a series of dynamic supporting characters, but too many scenes are unexplained in the film, too many characters make judgements that cannot be justified by the content the film provides.

Despite the movie's flaws in direction and well roundedness, it is still not one to miss, because the moving moments are effective, the human element behind the life of Piaf is exposed with intuition and taste and most of all because Cotillard is the perfect Piaf, successfully portraying a woman who, at stardom, reflects a life of growing up in a winner-takes-all world of poverty.

- Seth Graves

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LondonNet Film Review by Kim Hu
La Vie En Rose

Director Olivier Dahan pays tribute to the enduring legacy of Edith Piaf with this glorious biopic, charting the iconic singer's life almost from birth to the grave...

As the running time intimates, La Vie En Rose (La Mome) is an epic undertaking, both for Dahan and his collaborators, and for audiences. Thankfully, the film overflows with tour-de-force performances, sumptuous period detail and directorial flourishes that hold us spellbound, carrying us along with Edith as she moves from Belleville to New York, refusing to give up her dreams.

Marion Cotillard delivers an Oscar worthy portrayal of Piaf. From behind the mask of Didier Laverge's clever make-up, she captures the fiery spirit and determination of a woman who grew up singing on the streets, and was abandoned or taken away from the people she loved the most. Her temper is as fierce as her wit. When someone dares to suggest that she is overstepping her mark - "You can't do this!" - the singer responds icily, "I can't? Then what's the point of being Edith Piaf?"

The opening 20 minutes are a vibrant indication of Dahan's ambitious intentions: he abandons the linear storytelling of a conventional biopic, preferring a fragmented narrative that feels like reminiscences tumbling into focus. It's almost impossible to make sense of the chronology but as the film progresses, the method in the director's apparent madness reaps rewards, moving back and forth in time to sketch an intimate portrait of a legend.

In Edith's formative years, we watch as she is abandoned by her mother Anetta (Clotilde Courau) and left to fend for herself in a brothel, where prostitute Titine (Emmanuelle Seigner) becomes her guardian. With best friend Momone (Testud) inspiring her to succeed, Edith demonstrates her singing talents to cabaret owner Louis Leplee (Gerard Depardieu). Long-suffering manager Louis Barrier (Pascale Greggory) guides her career, transforming France's 'little sparrow' into a global celebrity. Edith soars, until she falls in love with boxing champion Marcel Cerdan (Jean-Pierre Martins), who is killed in an airplane accident, almost extinguishing her will to live.

La Vie En Rose is a triumph on every level. Certain elements of the singer's life - alleged connections to the French Resistance during the war, personal relationships with the likes of Charles Aznavour and Jean Cocteau - have no place in Dahan's vision. However, the film doesn't suffer for it. He directs with flair, including the ambitious sequence when Edith learns of Marcel's death, the camera gliding behind her as she roams the interlocking rooms of her apartment.

Supporting performances are excellent but its Cotillard who sparkles brightest, miming to perfection through Piaf's most memorable songs, building to a spine-tingling crescendo at Edith's first performance of "Non, je ne regrette rien". Our only regret is that the film doesn't have an encore.

- Kim Hu

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