Le Vie en Rose

By John • Feb 3rd, 2008 • Category: 2 Stars, Drama

This is a very dramatic story about the french singer Edith Piaf, which I admit I had never heard of before. It is a well done biography with good performances. Unfortunately I found many problems with it.

First of all it was confusing. The timeline jumps between past and present, and although it is clear which is which, I still had trouble putting them in order in my mind.

But that’s not all, there were some characters that supposedly were in both timelines, but I had no idea who was who. Was the Louis in the present her father? I could barely recognize her sister and her friends. This is a problem with both characterization and look.

However the main story about Edith was clear, and it was a tragic story, ever since her childhood. However, even after seeing her childhood, I still could not emphasize with her as an adult. I just couldn’t find anything about her that I liked, not her personality, nor her look, not even her voice.

That’s another personal problem I had: that type of music is just not for me. So when everybody was raving about her voice, I just didn’t get it.

Marion Cotillard’s performance as Piaf was not easy, for that I give her lots of credit. I think she deserved the Oscar nomination.

Rating: 2 Stars

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