dir. Olivier Dahan
writ. Olivier Dahan and Isabelle Sobelman
feat. Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Gregory, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Paul Roeve, Gerard Depardieu
While Marion Cotillard is stunning in the role of Edith Piaf (even when the caked-on aging makeup distracts) and Tetsuo Nagata's cinematography is wonderfully dark, dense and inviting, La Vie en Rose sadly falls into the same dull pitfalls of most biopics, with the filmmakers struggling to hammer a life into a dramatic movie arc.
It rolls by like a checklist from the biopic handbook -
Begin in sickly late life
Flash back to street urchin youth
Dash of bad parenting, but loving father, if not wholly responsible
Charming youth with show of great talent
Savior figure steps in, preferably a big star near-cameo
Training with a strict but well-meaning mentor
Success
Love story, preferably with conflict, perhaps married man
Tragedy - death, illness, etc.
Poignant return to old age, death, perhaps prophetic/ageless sentiment
It's all there, so hop on board. Try not to pay too much attention to the formula or the frequently uninventive way in which these familiar scenes play out.
Still, the film is decent entertainment, even willing to portray faults in Piaf's character (though her need to surround herself in luxury feels like a pat neediness of one who escapes poverty). However, it's hard to escape that checklist feeling and the complete lack of creative inspiration for Piaf. Perhaps, she merely sang her way out of the gutter, the music simply a means to an end, but one would think she had some love for the it, a connection that never surfaces in the picture.
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