A crying shame

Rating: 1/10 (28 June 2007)

OK, we're talking about a person and an artist that ranks up there with only a small handful of others in the 20th century music business. What about showing some respect? The film is a crying shame from start to end. The fact that some people might find Edith's life a rather tragic one doesn't mean making poor representations is fair.
First we've got the plot, or rather, the lack of it. It is indeed very cheap to make a movie of a dramatic life and think that's enough. There was never one single moment when I was curious to see what the following scene would consist of.
Then we have the so-called actors. The cast is so bad that seeing a high school revue would give even a person with the lowest demands a more satisfactory feeling of qualified acting.
The story and the acting is the most important but the dull way the movie was filmed made me consider a walk in downtown Glasgow where I was visiting when seeing the film.
Finally something about the details and the aesthetic catastrophe the movie is. Pouring rain on berets. Laughing whores. Hot blooded circus artists. Breakfast eaten from odd stoneware. Please! If I want to watch Hallmark I can do that at home.
The great challenge for me now is to be able to erase the ugliness of the movie when listening to Edith's records. But, with the transcending timbre and boundless love that her voice displays I believe I can make it. Will you?