No Regrets

Rating: 8/10 (12 April 2009)

The film of Edith Piaf's short and tragic life is a sad but rewarding experience. La Vie En Rose is told in flash-forwards and flashbacks, which specially works and fits the story. The film shows Edith glowing up in poverty in rural France, her mother abandons her to persuade her singing career, her father had to rise money so had to give his daughter to his mother who rang a brothel in Normandy. Edith meets the first person to love, a prostitute named Titine who helps the young girl conquer her blindness. When her father takes her back she lives with the circus and discoveries her talent to sing. The film shows her rise in the 30s, from street singer to a star in France then her raise in America and the suffering of drug addiction and loosing loved ones.
The director by Olivier Dahan is excellent, blending my aspects of Piaf's life and making interesting viewing. But most praise should go to Marion Cotillard as the adult Piaf who ages on the scene from a young 20 year old women to a sickly middle-aged one. She plays the role with conviction. Both the actress and the director make you care for the singer even when she was being a Prima Donna. I am personally looking forward to Cotillard's next film Public Enemies. There is wonderful music by Edith Piaf as you would expect. Even if you don't like her type of music there is no denying she was a wondering singer. The film looks at a dark subjects, but there is a positive, that Piaf loved to sing, it was her drive to keep her going and she wanted to look for love. I personally really enjoy and was interested in the early put of Piaf's live, especially her childhood.
However, only a French film can ignore the Second World War.
4 out 5.