Tonight I saw the movie "La Vie En Rose." I have been waiting for this to come to our local theater and was afraid it wouldn't because it isn't exactly mainstream. It was in French with subtitles, but was easy to follow. The actress (Marion Cotillard) who played Edith Piaf was absolutely incredible. She needs to get some kind of an award. Her similarity to Piaf was so striking that it was hard to believe. At first I thought the singing was dubbed in authentic Piaf, but other people did the singing and that singing was dubbed. The extreme tremor (for lack of a better word) that Piaf had to her voice was not there, but it was still hauntingly beautiful and if someone did not know her voice well they would not have noticed this. The movie jumped around quite a bit with different periods of her life, but somehow it all worked. The film was two and a half hours long and usually by that time I get restless. Not with this. I was glued to my seat and you could hear a pin drop in the theater. I strongly recommend this movie, especially if you are a francophile like me.
Bon soir, mes amis.
5 comments:
Yes, this movie is a must see.
The time sequence was confusing at times, but I did a 'google' and
found out the following.
For those who go to see it, the below facts might be helpful.
Her young friend -- like a sister -- is her half sister.
Marcel, her lover, died in 1949.
In 1951, she was involved in a car crash breaking an arm and two ribs. Thereafter, she had severe arthritis, difficulty breaking, and serious morphine and alcohol addictions. Two more near-fatal car crashes exacerbated the situation.
Her first husband, Jacques Pills, took her into rehab on three different occasions to no avail.
She took to drugs and young men, married her second husband, Hairdresser Theo Sarapo, 25, when she was 46. She died at 47 of liver cancer.
Her life was expressed in her powerful voice.
EXCELLENT!!
OOpps! For those who haven't seen the movie, I probably shouldn't have told you about Marcel.
It's the 1949 & 1951 dates that I found to be helpful.
But, there is plenty, plenty more in this movie that knowing about Marcel won't ruin it for you a bit.
Sorry.
Piaf is one of those people (like Hedy Lamarr) who are very interesting, but I don't know much about. Seems like this movie would be a good way for me to get familiar with her. I doubt this movie will make it to my local cineplex, so I'll have to wait for DVD (like always). Thanks for the tip.
Kim,
It was a fun night -- all of us in silence and totally impressed with this movie. Thank you for the additional info.
kookiejar,
I think if you go online and read a little about Piaf's life and then see the movie, you will truly like it. What about Hedy Lamarr?
I'm not sure if this is still playing here or not. Susan (my French classmate) went to see it and said it was wonderful. I have it on my DVD list, but should probably see if it's still playing - everything's better on the big screen. (and it would no doubt be easier to read the subtitles!) :)
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