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La Vie En Rose [2007] | ![La Vie En Rose [2007]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51r1k%2BAw5HL._SL75_.jpg)
 enlarge | Artist: Marion Cotillard
Actor: Marion Cotillard
Studio: Icon Home Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: £19.99
Buy New: £4.90
You Save: £15.09 (75%)
New (32) Used (2) from £4.90
Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 116
Format: Box Set, Pal
Languages: French (Original Language), English (Original Language)
Rating: Suitable for 12 years and over
Number Of Items: 2
Running Time: 135
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5051429101231
ASIN: B000VNJEGW
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: November 26, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: * BRAND NEW * SEALED * READY TO SEND TODAY * Fast and friendly professional service from mainland UK. Buy with confidence.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
La vie en rose of a not-so-Little Sparrow (7/10) July 8, 2008
`La vie en rose` (or La Môme - "the kid" - as it is known in its native France) is a refreshingly unconventional biopic of the diminutive chanteuse Edith Piaf. While it charts the singer's childhood - first in a brothel, then as a street performer - it thankfully resists the need to take the prosaic approach common to most biopics, by spelling out her story from A to Z. While not entirely free of the genre's clichés (montages of congratulatory newspaper cuttings fill in some of the historical gaps) La Môme is an impressionistic piece that evokes the intensity and melodrama of the singer's life and songs. The film may not therefore tell you an awful lot about Edith Piaf - which might disappoint if that's what you were expecting - but the film captures something of her mood: a life of violent turmoil, tragedy, drunkedness and adulation.
With sudden and non-chronological shifts in time, and a mood of inexorable tragedy, Piaf's life is presented as nightmarish and carnivalesque. You may not find yourself even liking the eponymous character very much as Marion Cotillard's Piaf is a caricature of the "Little Sparrow"'s tragic persona, one arguably inseparable from the myths redolent in her music. In a performance for which she won an oscar, Cotillard overdoes it at almost every capricious turn, from the vulgar to the vulnerable.
`La vie en rose` is unrelentingly miserable, with the leading lady screaming and collapsing with such a cartoonish vigour that it is hard to tell whether she is guilty of overacting or tongue-in-cheek parody. The film's style - its bloody, saturated reds and urgent, busy camerawork - leads me to believe that it might be the latter. The roving movement of the camera sits somewhere between Scorcese's mob operas and the hyperactively whimsical (and distinctively French) filmmaking of Jean-Pierre Jeunet ('Amelie', `Delicatessen').
Certainly, fans of Piaf wanting to learn of her (slightly controversial) role in the war-time period will be quite shocked by the lack of concession to establishing fact in this film. While this does not bother me - I usually find biopics tediously obsequious - some moments of calm might have salved the excruciating intensity of La vie en rose, which wallops you over the head with melodrama in the manner of Piaf's singing voice. Furthermore, it seems that Piaf's childhood is in fact shrouded in mystery, and certainly her loyalties during the Second World War are also subject to debate, so a more impressionistic account was probably the logical option. There are several brilliant scenes, not least the one in which Piaf learns of her lover's death in a plane crash, and she is seen walking through her appartment in despair straight onto the stage in front of an audience. A horrific and dreamlike sequence, it's suggestive of a physically punishing performing life impelled by loss and sorrow, and possibly a self-destructive streak.
One element that isn't consistent in this film is Piaf's size. Piaf was the "Little Sparrow" - shy of five feet - and the producers of `La vie en rose` didn't make up their mind if they were to be true to this fact or not. Sometimes she is presented as conspicously little, crowded by her supporting cast - technically dificult, for Cotillard is at least a foot taller than the woman she is portraying - while in most other scenes the pretence is abandoned. In the case of her lover, a middleweight boxer, it is patently ridiculous that Piaf be close to his eye level. Maybe there is some kind of deliberate metaphorical value being woven into this - her changing stature or confidence for instance - but I'm not buying it. "The little sparrow" was very much part of her identity and iconography, and they have cut crude corners around it.
 I can see why Marion Cotillard won the Oscar. June 22, 2008
If nothing else, I encourage people to buy this film just to admire and marvel at the sheer brilliance and remarkable finesse with which Cotillard portrays Edith Piaf. Her acting throughout is simply exceptional and in a class of its own. Such talent is rare and one of a kind! Great also if you like Edith Piaf's songs. Cotillard certainly deserved her Oscar and Bafta!
10 Stars just for her acting!
Awesome! June 17, 2008
Well worth watching, but make sure you have tissues, a drink (or 4), and chocolate - you need to actually concentrate & watch this film.
I did get a little annoyed with the very dark lighting in lots of scenes - never can see the sense in filming something you cant see - but I guess that addded to the moodiness of it, & the acting & story were more than capable of carrying the darkness.
Fab film - really enjoyed it.
I now have to go out & learn more about Edith!
A dramatic french experience June 4, 2008
This is a film about a singing genius, that complete one-off, Edith Piaf, alive in the first half of the 20th century but whose performances are still dramatically effective now. The film reminds me of our fascination with genius and how when we look closely at it a life of chaos and pain and selfishness is often revealed. This very honest film about an icon portrays all of this and more.
The flashback structure did get in the way sometimes, I definitely found myself thinking why didn't they start at the beginning and end with her death, the chaos and hurtling pace of her life would still have been interestingly and successfully revealed. The film showed that the messiness in her life was part of her genius and that it was her huge talent that saved her from own self-destructive personality and the fallout from her appalling upbringing. Her very short life by today's standards would have been even shorter without that talent.
I did find myself thinking that parts of her life were missing in the film, for example, what happened to Raymond her teacher, why was she so stooped, what was physically wrong with her, what happened to certain characters later, who were all the people that surrounded her and supported her all her life. These were not explained. However I imagine the director had to make several big cutting decisions as Piaf's life was so eventful.
This does not take away from the success of the film, the outstanding performance by Marion Cotillard, the music, of course the songs, the costumes, the lighting, the sets,the sense of period, all marvellous. What counts is that you feel you know a lot more about Piaf at the end of the film and that sadly the delight and great art she was able to give to her audience then and now was at some cost to her. However the film shows that Piaf's work was also a source of balm and complete joy for herself so we come away feeling that though her life was full of pain which benefited her audience she did find great comfort through her own art.
The film is as complete a portrait of Piaf that I think could have been made on film, now to find a written biography to fill in the gaps which could not possibly all be included and also the most important thing, to buy the music!
Incroyable! April 23, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Marion Cotillard is quite simply incredible in this film. If you can put up with the subtitles then you must see it. It's not a happy film, it won't leave you full of joy, but it is fascinating and beautifully acted.
I cried like a baby at the end and am not ashamed to admit it!
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