A genuinely moving biography.

Rating: 9/10 (13 March 2008)

I don't think I'll be spoiling anything if I reveal that in a later scene, we see Edith sing "Je Ne Regrette Rien" and it's a moment powerful enough to put a lump in my throat.
Biography films so often fall into that boring formulaic quagmire, it takes a lot to get me interested in the genre. It's very impressive, the way La Vie En Rose manages to rise above all this, to make the story feel fresh and exciting. Instead of dutifully reciting established highlights, the film seems more concerned with mood and emotion, the very things that make Piaf tick. It eschews the standard narrative arc in favor of more convoluted time-lines that seem to imply that the various stages of Piaf's life are interchangeable. (Wherever you look, it's a struggle.)
I was not a great fan of Edith Piaf, or of her brand of music, prior to watching this film. The music is so well-done, it won me over. The same can be said for the acting and the direction. Just like the subject, this is a tragic, beautiful, passionate work.