Reviews

La Môme|La Vie en Rose

A wonder of a bio-pic in lush, matted reds

By TOM MEEK | June 13, 2007

3.0 Stars

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf

Full of lush, matted reds and spot-on period sets, Olivier Dahan’s bio-pic about French chanteuse Edith Piaf is a scrumptious wonder. As Piaf, Marion Cotillard (last seen as object of desire Fanny Chenal in A Good Year) is a lioness in the guise of a bird, with large, luminescent eyes that serve as wondrous windows into the singer’s troubled soul. Trouble pervades the story, which begins with Piaf collapsing on stage, circa 1959, and then flashes back through the self-destructive boozing, morphine addiction, and irrepressible id. Piaf’s all-consuming songs give the film passion and purpose, the early years in poverty and a brothel touch the heart, but Dahan sweeps perfunctorily by WW2 and Piaf’s relationship with Yves Montand. Marlene Dietrich does get worked in elegantly, as does boxer Marcel Cerdan (Jean-Pierre Martins), Piaf’s one true love, who proved one more thorn on the rose.

Related: Jill Aigrot, The girls of summer, Bytes, More

Topics: Reviews , Edith Piaf, Olivier Dahan, Marion Cotillard, More

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