Rating  - +Le Vie En Rose
I enjoyed the movie. UI have seen it 7 times at the movies. The only thing that disappointed me, was the when she sang in French, there were no English subtiles. I loved the song No Regrets, but without the subtile, I was disappointed.
Rating  - Great performance, hugely flawed DVD
Marion Cotillard's brilliant performance is reason enough to watch this film. Yes, the film ran a bit long and the number of flashbacks made it tiresome, but Cotillard is unforgettable.
What is really annoying, though, is that the DVD producers chose to subtitle only the spoken dialog and not the lyrics of the songs. Perhaps it's Gallic arrogance that assumes that the entire world knows Piaf's songs and anyone who doesn't know them is beyond redemption anyway, but unless your command of the French language is very good (and mine isn't) you'll miss a good deal of the drama. Case in point: toward the end of the movie the aging Piaf chooses a specific song for a concert late in her career, "Non, Je ne Regrette Rien." It's a personal anthem which is both defiant and reflective which says I regret nothing and don't give a d*** about the past. Those lyrics become an apologia for Piaf's life and are absolutely appropriate for the final song of the film--why weren't those lyrics (and those of the other songs as well) subtitled? It's a particularly egregious and unforgivable omission in a movie about a passionate singer and the songs which reflected her turbulent life.
Rating  - Incredible portrayal!
La Vie en Rose is one of the best biographical films I've seen. Marion Cotillard's portrayal of Edith Piaf was amazing. I can remember hearing Edith Piaf recordings when I was a teenager and being entranced by her voice. The film brings out the emotion and passion behind that incredible voice. I highly recommend this film to those who love her music and want to know more about the person behind the voice.
Rating - Flashbacks!
This could have been a great movie. Great acting and great cinematography. Unfortunately, the excessive use of flashbacks makes this movie choppy and confusing. It was as though the editor had just discovered flashbacks and wanted to use as many as possible. The movie was so depressing and the editing so poor that I found myself wishing that Edith would hurry up and die so that the movie would be over and I wouldn't have to see another flashback.
Rating - Non, je ne regrette rien
This movie is based on the life of the famous French singer Edith Piaf, and will drain you emotionally and physically (if you're not one for long periods of sitting still)
Short Attention Span Summary (SASS):
1. Little Edith has a hard knock life with her mother, and eventually is "rescued" by her father, and taken to live with her grandmother
2. Grandma's girls (and clients) call her "Madame"
3. She is taken under the wing of Titine, one of the girls, and learns about song and prayer
4. Dad returns and decides that he will be the stable influence in her life
5. ... so he raises her in a circus where he's a contortionist
6. Soon she's singing for her supper and hitting the bottle
7. ...and the needle
8. ... and continues to do so, stubborn as a mule, ruining her health
9. ... while singing her heart out
From the streets to the brothel, from the circus to the streets, from the streets to the clubs, through bad patches and bubbly heights, culminating in a passionate love affair and the inevitable decline, the viewer will love, hate and pity the temperamental singer, though not necessarily in that order.
Although not my type of music, and given that I normally shy away from long dramatic movies, there's no escaping the fact that Marion Cotillard gives an absolutely magnificent performance. The supporting actors, the settings and the cinematography make this a memorable watching experience.
This is not a movie to brighten your day, lift your spirits or make your heart soar, but if you asked me if I regret watching it, I'd have to say "Non, je ne regrette rien".
Amanda Richards, August 3, 2008
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