La Vie en Rose (La Mome)

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  July 6, 2009

  RCCLBC

  Overall a beautiful and moving film.
  
  I was far from an expert on Edith Piaf going into this film, but I do own a few of her CD's, have seen images of her and knew a bit about her tragic life. I have to say that Cotillard did a breath taking job at bringing Edith to life for t...( read more)his film and deserved every award that was given to her for the effort.
  
  The acting (across the board is superb) and the music, costumes and set designs are brilliant.
  
  I do feel that the editing left certain aspects of the story a little hard to follow at times. II'd be interested to know (from someone who is fluent in French) if they felt the same, as so often much can be lost in the translation process.

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  March 15, 2009

  gor41

  Committed performance from Cotillard understandably caught the Academy's eye but the surrounding film was functional at best.

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  February 10, 2009

  imperatrix

  Wow, before I saw this I had absolutely no idea about the story, let alone the fact that its a biopic! The film follows the life and career of of one France's singing gems, Edith Pilaf, detailing her tough childhood, her rise to fame and her ill health. I just found it so interes...( read more)ting seeing how this painfully shy little girl with brilliant blue eyes became such a singing legend, and I felt real pity at what she had to go through in life. Fantastic story aside, the film is worth watching just for Marion Cotillard's performance, absolutely spell-binding! I was thrilled to learn she even got the Oscar for Best Actress (go girl!). So if foreign language films are your thing, even biopics, or if you're a fan of Edith Pilaf, this is compulsory viewing! It's definitely foreign language at its best.

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  January 20, 2009

  SilentWarProductions2009

  Directed by: Oliver Dahan.
  Starring: Marion Cotillard, Gérard Depardieu, Clotilde Courau.
  
  "The most astonishing immersion of one performer into the body and soul of another ever encountered on film."
  
  Those of you who have seen and reviewed the...( read more) film, no doubt put this snippet of a review on there's, so don't mind me being a bit repetitive, but I have reason too. Sure, Marion Cotillard is masterful here (that word still doesn't cut it) and I'll cover that soon, but many don't also realize the brilliance of the film itself.
  
  The story follows Edith Piaf, as you may already know. We are shown her troubled childhood, from her abandonment as a young girl to her life in the circus, to her instant success in her 20's. From there, not only did she have her ups and downs with her career, she had her problems with alcohol and drugs, her battle with rheumatism and her deal with love, all leading to her early death.
  
  Oliver Dahan deserves a round of applause. Not only has he created a respectable biography underneath a masterful performance, he has created a technically outstanding film. His screenplay does suffer a little from being a little too short and cutting past some small aspects of Edith's life, but it is otherwise full of a brilliant understanding of this mysterious women and done with such emotion and depth. His direction is impeccable, he chooses some wise shots and the perfect camera styles and setups for each emotion being radiated off the screen...and with some of the very best editing I have seen in years, there are many key montages and shots that blend together so well with such respect and meaning (the sequence of Edith's loss and then suddenly walking onto stage to sing), if you don't notice these, then you are missing out.
  
  The soundtrack couldn't be done any other way. I half expected a top composer to come in and create his own score for the film but it would have not worked. The score consists of Edith Piaf and that's it...and with the perfect placement and the right songs for many key scenes, it really adds the emotion and intensity to the film that the songs hold already by themselves.
  
  The performances...first, to be nice, all of the smaller performances by many spanning over the decades of the film are great, with not a bad egg in amongst them all, they are all outshone and slightly forgotten. Marion Cotillard has done brilliance beyond imagination. I could certainly be clichéd and say that she deserves the Oscar, which she is bound to win, but its more than that. This performance deserves a whole new category...at the end of the day, it isn't acting...its channeling. From the cute shyness of her early years, to her emotional struggles in her 30's, to her quirkiness in her late years, Marion Cotillard IS Edith Piaf. From her look over the decades, to her movements, right down to the persona of the role, Marion is brilliant, outstanding, masterful...no words of mine can sum it up. 'Hall of Fame' really does call her name.
  
  At a solid 140 minute running time, La Vie En Rose could have been a lot to take in, but with the brilliant structure, the outstanding editing, the respectable, thoughtful and technically brilliant direction...and the best performance in decades, La Vie En Rose is an engrossing, respectful and truly is the perfect Edith Piaf biography. Up there with some of the best films of the year.
  
  

  90/100
  
  << "Americans want beauties, not me. I'm not the Parisian bombshell they expected. Can you see me as a chorus girl? Where's my feather up the ass? They think I'm sad, they're dumb. I don't connect to them." >>

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  December 25, 2008

  middleeasternfilms

  A mgnificent performance by Cotillard, but the movie itself was just above average. It skips around a lot, but doesn't hold back on telling Piaf's life the was it was...she enjoyed life and had her share of detractors. Not having ever been a huge fan of hers, I couldn't into this...( read more) as much as I would've liked.

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  December 11, 2009

  SuperVision

  Incredible performance by Marion Cotillard.

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  December 1, 2009

  nicolemarley4

  really dark but entertaining music, docu-drama!!!!! totally worth the oscar noms and awards won!!!

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  November 29, 2009

  kaijawitch

  I really loved this one.. but I really think it would have been better had the timeline been straightforward.. I get it.. it's artsy.. and you are seeing the memories as this dying woman is remembering them.. but I felt distracted the entire film..
  
  Aside from that.. I woul...( read more)d have liked more info on Mômone.. at one point they show the police taking her away (apparently on her mothers orders).. then all of a sudden she's back with her.. and when she came back she was dressed as a guy.. mustache and all .. Seeing that Marlene Dietrich was known to have sported that look (and was friends with Piaf.. even being in one of her weddings) I am curious what the film maker is implying.. Just one of the things that stuck in my brain.. lol.. (go figure)

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  November 25, 2009

  kellylouise2

  A remarkable story of one of France's greatest legends told in a captivating manner. The radiant and stunning Cotillard is vindicated in her portrayal of Piaf and the rest of the cast deserve to be praised as well. However, the film was a tad too long-winded for my taste. Perhaps...( read more) they could have told more of the story with less screen time. Nonetheless, the soundtrack makes more than up for it.

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  November 23, 2009

  0001hrs

  Captivating performance by Marion Cotillard.

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• La Vie En Rose
• LA VIE EN ROSE - Trailer
• Marion Cotillard