"No Regrets"

Rating: 8/10 (8 July 2007)

"La Môme" (2007), was shown in the U.S. with the title "La Vie en Rose." The film was co-written and directed by Olivier Dahan. It portrays the life of the great French singer, Edith Piaf.
Piaf's life was so full of hardship, tragedy, and triumph that even this long film could not really accommodate all of it. In view of Piaf's dismal childhood, and her continual forced partings from people whom she loves and who love her, it's amazing that she survived at all, and more amazing that she could rise to become a national icon.
Marion Cotillard looks like Piaf, and her acting is outstanding. Both Manon Chevallier, who plays the five-year-old Piaf, and Pauline Burlet, who plays the ten-year-old Piaf, are capable child actors.
The problem with the film is that so much happened in Piaf's short life. Most of it was bad, some of it was good, but it happened, and seemingly almost all of it was put into the movie. That might have worked had Mr. Dahan stuck to a historic time line. Instead, he has chosen to use flashbacks and flashforwards to add interest and suspense. Unless you're intimately familiar with Piaf's life, as well as the names of the people who surrounded her, you're almost sure to get lost. You know the feeling--"Wait, is that 1959 in New York or 1960 in Paris? Is that guy with the dark hair her lover, her accompanist, her manager, or all three?" After a while I just decided to lean back and enjoy the movie, and sort out the details later using Wikipedia.
The soundtrack is, of course, wonderful. Piaf had real talent. That's clear to everyone who has heard her recordings (and clear to all the characters in the film as well). Most of the soundtrack doesn't utilize Piaf's voice--for reasons I don't understand--but the artist whose voice is used sounds amazingly like Piaf. You could enjoy this movie just for the music, even if you couldn't see it.
Incidentally, for better or worse, the director has chosen to omit World War II from the movie. It just never happened, as far as the film is concerned. That's a pity, because Piaf was a true hero of the French Resistance.