Review: La Vie En Rose

I was hoping this film would suck so I could make the obvious jokes about regretting having seen it. Instead, after a slow start, it becomes compelling viewing showcasing an amazing performance, and legendary music.

At the best of times I’m wary of films where people undergo amazing physical transformations. Not only are they usually insulting in a kind of “watch as that mega star makes herself UGLY” way but they muddy the waters between performance and not eating carbs for a few months. Just watch The Biggest Loser and be done with it. Plus biopics are hard. There’s no really good way to condense a lifetime into two hours. And the third strike is a music based film. The good ones are definitely few and far between.

So I wasn’t really preparing to enjoy this film. And initially, I didn’t. Tortured childhood stories are just a little boring. Even this one when she winds up in a brothel and a circus in quick succession is tiresome. We know she winds up okay- let’s see that part.

It’s this performance of Piaf as messed up adult which makes the film. Emmanuelle Seigner is another standout as “tart with a heart” Titine, who becomes obsessed with the young Edith in some kind of syphilitic frenzy. And for the adults, the Depardieu cameo is about a half hour in. And for the ladies the brooding Gallic hero shoes are very ably filled by Jean-Pierre Martins.

And the woman herself? The performance by Marion Cotillard is fantastic, amazing physical transformation and all. The music is amazing. And turns out, she wasn’t such a nice person. In fact, Edith Piaf is not someone you would want to hang out with. Her life is nothing if not tragic, and no-one she associates with comes out of it well. This fact is nicely un-glossed by the film, until a horribly ham fisted attempt to show a softer side that occurs towards the end.

So a slow start, and a mixed bag of techniques employed to deal to the peculiar constraints of a biopic. But an incredible story, inventively told.