Amazing life story

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2007)

I must first say I thoroughly enjoyed this film.It fascinated me throughout. I knew little about 'the Little Sparrow', Edith Piaf, before seeing this film except for a few songs that she was renowned for. This woman had a hard life! From a life of abject poverty as a child to becoming one of the world's most renowned singers this film traces her highs and lows (particularly her lows). Her mother left her as a child to fend for herself. Her father eventually took her, only to dump her with his mother (Piaf's grandmother) who was a brothel owner! Piaf's father would also later exploit her in his acts.Throughout her childhood she was riddled with disease and sickness and was blind for a short while. Later she became a drug addict, an alcoholic and...well the list of tragedy just continues (till her death at the early age of 47). And this film charts it all. Well you may ask how I could 'enjoy' such a movie? First and foremost is the performance of Marion Cotillard as Piaf. She is extraordinary showing Piaf's zest for life despite all the tragedy. Then of course there is the wonderful music, including the amazingly staged performance to 'non je ne regrette'. The wonderful cinematography. And of course the amazing life story of Edith Piaf that is crammed with incident. However I was not entirely happy with the film's construction. While bio pics do not need to show a person's life in chronological order, and this film certainly goes against that, there is one dramatic and important part of her early life that is uncovered to the audience near the end of the movie, yet it is presented with little detail in just a short few scenes. 'La Vie En Rose' packs a lot of Piaf's life within its 140 minute running time, yet I left the cinema asking questions about certain scenes in the film that were presented without any context. Despite this 'La Vie En Rose' is one of the best films I have seen this year.