La Vie en rose (film)
La Vie en Rose (literally Life in pink, French pronunciation: [la vi ɑ̃ ʁoz];[note 1] French: La Môme)[note 2] is a 2007 biographical musical film about the life of French singer Édith Piaf. The film was co-written and directed by Olivier Dahan, and stars Marion Cotillard as Piaf. The UK and US title La Vie en Rose comes from Piaf's signature song. The film is an international co-production between France, Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom.
| La Vie en Rose | |
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| Directed by | Olivier Dahan |
| Written by | Isabelle Sobelman Olivier Dahan |
| Produced by | Alain Goldman |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Tetsuo Nagata |
| Edited by | Richard Marizy |
| Music by | Christopher Gunning |
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Running time | 140 minutes[1] |
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| Budget | $25 million |
| Box office | $86.3 million |
Cotillard's performance received critical acclaim and earned her several awards including the Academy Award for Best Actress – the first time an Oscar had been given for a French-language role – the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and the César Award for Best Actress. The film also won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, the BAFTA Award for Best Makeup, BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design, BAFTA Award for Best Film Music, and four additional César Awards. The film grossed $86.3 million worldwide.
Plot
The film is structured as a largely non-linear series of key events from the life of Édith Piaf. [note 3] The film begins with elements from her childhood, and at the end with the events prior to and surrounding her death, poignantly juxtaposed by a performance of her song, "Non, je ne regrette rien" (No, I do not Regret Anything).
Beginning in 1918, young Édith suffers a chaotic childhood and is eventually sent to live with her paternal-grandmother, who runs a brothel in Normandy. Édith witnesses the brutal business of prostitution. When she suffers an episode of keratitis-induced blindness, a kind sex worker named Titine tenderly cares for Édith.
Édith's World War I veteran father collects her to accompany him while he works as a circus acrobat. One night, Édith sees a vision of St Thérèse in a fire eater's flames. St Thérèse says she will always be with Édith—a belief that she carries for the rest of her life. When Édith is nine years old, her father leaves the circus and performs on the streets of Paris. During a lackluster performance, a passerby asks if Édith is part of the show. She spontaneously sings "La Marseillaise" with raw emotion, mesmerizing the street crowd.
Years later, nightclub owner Louis Leplée hires Édith to sing at his club and gives her the stage surname of Piaf, a colloquialism for sparrow that is inspired by her diminutive height of only 1.47m (4 ft 8in). However, Leplée is soon shot dead and the police suspect it's due to Édith's connections to the mafia. When she next attempts a show at a cabaret, she is jeered off the stage by a hostile crowd. Things go from bad to worse when her best friend, Mômone, is forcibly taken to a convent. Desperate, Édith turns to Raymond Asso, a songwriter and accompanist. Through harsh means, he enlivens her stage presence with hand gestures, better enunciation, and other lessons.
Édith's career progresses and she achieves fame. While performing in New York City, Édith meets Marcel Cerdan, a fellow French national and a middleweight boxer competing for the World Champion title. Despite him being married, Édith believes she's falling in love with Marcel. An affair ensues and, while it's supposedly a secret, "La Vie En Rose" is played for Marcel wherever he goes. Édith persuades Marcel to fly from Paris to join her in New York, and he wakes her up in her bedroom with a kiss. She goes to get coffee and is informed by her entourage that Marcel was killed when his plane crashed. Édith hysterically searches for the his ghost.
The narrative bookends scenes from Édith's middle life with repeated vignettes. One set of memories shows Édith with short curly hair, singing on stage and collapsing. She develops arthritis, as well as a severe morphine addiction. Her husband, Jacques Pills, persuades her to enter drug rehabilitation, and she travels to California with him. A now-sober but manic Édith drives around in a convertible while joking and teasing her compatriots. She drives into a Joshua tree, but the hilarity continues as Édith gets out and pretends to hitchhike.
Years later, an aged Édith is now frail and hunched. She squabbles with her entourage about whether or not she will be able to perform at the Olympia. Charles Dumont and Michel Vaucaire offer her the composition, "Non, je ne regrette rien,” which she loves and announces that she will perform it.
Prior to what turns out to be her last performance, Édith asks for the cross necklace that she always wears and her staff rush away to get it. She sits in quiet solitude and experiences memories of her past. After Édith puts on the retrieved cross and shuffles out onto the stage, more flashbacks are shown as she sings. Édith relives a sunny day on a beach while knitting. She answers an interviewer’s questions, during which she repeatedly encourages others to "Love."
Édith's hard living and cancer has caused her to waste away at the age of 47. As she is tucked into bed, a subtitle reveals this is her last day alive. She is afraid and experiences a disjointed series of memories of small, yet defining moments—her mother commenting on her "wild eyes", her father giving her a doll, and thoughts of her own dead child, Marcelle. In a flashback, Édith performs "Non, je ne regrette rien" at the Olympia.
Cast
- Marion Cotillard as Édith Piaf
- Sylvie Testud as Simone "Mômone" Berteaut
- Pascal Greggory as Louis Barrier
- Emmanuelle Seigner as Titine
- Jean-Paul Rouve as Louis Alphonse Gassion
- Gérard Depardieu as Louis Leplée
- Clotilde Courau as Annetta Gassion
- Jean-Pierre Martins as Marcel Cerdan
- Catherine Allégret as Louise Gassion
- Marc Barbé as Raymond Asso
- Marie-Armelle Deguy as Marguerite Monnot
- Caroline Raynaud as Ginou
- Denis Ménochet as Journalist in Orly
- Pavlína Němcová as American journalist
- Harry Hadden-Paton as Doug Davis
- Caroline Sihol as Marlene Dietrich
- Pauline Burlet as a young Édith Piaf
- Farida Amrouche as Emma Saïd Ben Mohamed
- André Penvern : Jacques Canetti
- Marie-Armelle Deguy : Marguerite Monnot
Production
Cotillard was chosen by director Olivier Dahan to portray the French singer Édith Piaf in the biopic La Vie en Rose before he had even met her, saying that he noticed a similarity between Piaf's and Cotillard's eyes.[5] Producer Alain Goldman accepted and defended the choice even though distributors TF1 reduced the money they gave to finance the film thinking Cotillard wasn't "bankable" enough an actress.[6]
Four songs were entirely performed by "Parigote" singer Jil Aigrot:[citation needed] "Mon Homme" (My Man), "Les Mômes de la Cloche" (The kids of the bell), "Mon Légionnaire" (My legionnaire), "Les Hiboux" (Owls) as well as the third verse and chorus of "L'Accordéoniste" (The accordionist) and the first chorus of "Padam, padam...". Only parts of these last two songs were sung because they were sung while Piaf/Cotillard was fatigued and collapsed on stage. Apart from that, "La Marseillaise" is performed by child singer Cassandre Berger (lip-synched by Pauline Burlet, who plays the young Édith in the film), and Mistinguett's "Mon Homme" (My Man) and "Il m'a vue nue" (He saw me naked) (sung in part by Emmanuelle Seigner) also appear. Recordings of Piaf are also used.
The film premiered at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival.
Reception
Box office
In theaters, the film grossed US$86,274,793 worldwide – $10,301,706 in the United States and Canada and $75,973,087 elsewhere in the world.[7] In Francophone countries including France, Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia, the film grossed a total of $42,651,334.[8]
The film became the third-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980 (behind Amélie and Brotherhood of the Wolf).[9]
Critical response
The film received positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 74% based on 152 reviews, with an average rating of 6.89/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The set design and cinematography are impressive, but the real achievement of La Vie en Rose is Marion Cotillard's mesmerizing, wholly convincing performance as Edith Piaf."[10] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[11] Cotillard received widespread critical acclaim for her performance, with many critics citing it as the best performance of the year and one of the greatest acting performances of all time. A. O. Scott of The New York Times, while unimpressed with the film itself, said "it is hard not to admire Ms. Cotillard for the discipline and ferocity she brings to the role."[12] Carino Chocano of the Los Angeles Times opined that "Marion Cotillard is astonishing as the troubled singer in a technically virtuosic and emotionally resonant performance..." Richard Nilsen from Arizona Republic was even more enthusiastic, writing "don't bother voting. Just give the Oscar to Marion Cotillard now. As the chanteuse Édith Piaf in La Vie en rose, her acting is the most astonishing I've seen in years."[10]
Critic Mark Kermode of The Observer was less keen; while he felt there was much to applaud, there was also "plenty to regret".[note 4] Kermode agreed that the source material provided "heady inspiration", and that Cotillard plays everything with "kamikaze-style intensity", but thought the film lacking in structure and narrative, creating "an oddly empty experience".[13]
Accolades
| Award | Category | Recipients | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | Best Actress | Marion Cotillard | Won |
| Best Costume Design | Marit Allen | Nominated | |
| Best Makeup | Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald | Won | |
| British Academy Film Awards | Best Actress in a Leading Role | Marion Cotillard | Won |
| Best Costume Design | Marit Allen | Won | |
| Best Makeup and Hair | Jan Archibald and Didier Lavergne | Won | |
| Best Original Music | Christopher Gunning | Won | |
| Best Production Design | Olivier Raoux and Stanislas Reydellet | Nominated | |
| Best Sound | Laurent Zeilig, Pascal Villard, Jean-Paul Hurier and Marc Doisne | Nominated | |
| Best Film Not in the English Language | Alain Goldman and Olivier Dahan | Nominated | |
| César Awards | Best Film | La Vie en rose | Nominated |
| Best Director | Olivier Dahan | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Marion Cotillard | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | Pascal Greggory | Nominated | |
| Best Supporting Actress | Sylvie Testud | Nominated | |
| Best Original Screenplay | Olivier Dahan | Nominated | |
| Best Cinematography | Tetsuo Nagata | Won | |
| Best Costume Design | Marit Allen | Won | |
| Best Editing | Richard Marizy and Yves Beloniak | Nominated | |
| Best Production Design | Olivier Raoux | Won | |
| Best Sound | Laurent Zeilig, Pascal Villard, Jean-Paul Hurier and Marc Doisne | Won | |
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical | Marion Cotillard | Won |
| Lumières Awards | Best Film | La Vie en rose | Nominated |
| Best Director | Olivier Dahan | Nominated | |
| Best Actress | Marion Cotillard | Won |
Notes
- ^ A literal translation of "La Vie en Rose" is "Life in Pink", a figurative reference to rose-colored glasses.
- ^ La Môme refers to Piaf's nickname "La Môme Piaf" (meaning "baby sparrow, birdie, little sparrow")
- ^ The audience ultimately learns that the events from the film are flashbacks from within Édith's own memory as she dies.
- ^ A pun on Piaf's Non, je ne regrette rien (I don't regret anything).
References
- ^ "LA MOME - LA VIE EN ROSE (12A)". Icon Film Distribution. British Board of Film Classification. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
- ^ "LUMIERE : Film #26928 : La Môme". Lumiere. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ "La Vie en Rose (2005)". en.unifrance.org.
- ^ "La Môme (2007)". BFI. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
- ^ . The Canadian Press. 14 February 2008. Archived from the original on 19 February 2008. Retrieved 6 March 2008.
- ^ Secher, Benjamin (12 February 2008). . London: Benjamin Sesher, Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 February 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
- ^ "La Vie en rose (2007)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "La Vie en rose (2007) – International Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
- ^ "Foreign Language, 1980-Present". Box Office Mojo.
- ^ a b "La Vie en Rose (La Mome) (2007)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^ "La Vie en Rose Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ "La Vie en rose: A French Songbird’s Life, in Chronological Disorder". The New York Times. 8 June 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2008.
- ^ Kermode, Mark (24 June 2007). "La Vie en Rose". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 20 November 2011.
External links
- Official website
- La Vie en Rose at IMDb
- La Vie en Rose at Box Office Mojo
- La Vie en Rose at Rotten Tomatoes
- La Vie en Rose at Metacritic