Movie Madness: La Vie En Rose

This is one of those movies that I felt obligated to see. Marion Cotillard is receiving HUGE Oscar buzz for her performance as Edith Piaf, French singer and tragic figure, and you know me - if it's got Oscar buzz, I have to see it. But other than that, I wasn't really interested. I don't know a whole lot about Edith Piaf, and what I do know is that the sound of her voice bothers me. Or so I thought. More on that later.

Marion Cotillard is truly outstanding in this film. Not knowing anything about EP, I can't say that no one else could have played this role, but who cares? Marion completely embodied this role, and turned Edith Piaf into a real person and not a caricature of a real person. She acted the hell out of this. She WILL receive an Oscar nomination, and she'll probably win.

But as a whole, I didn't love this movie. It used a filmmaking device I like to call "FUBAR Chronology." Basically, this film starts in the middle, then goes back to the beginning, then a little before the middle, then later than the beginning, then the end, then back to just after the middle, then... you get the idea. But unlike Pulp Fiction, which also employs FUBAR Chronology, LVER just confused me. I never really knew what time I was watching - was this before the collapse, or after? Before the brothel, or after? Before or after the boxing match? That sort of thing. Ultimately, it kept me from being totally taken in by the story - I never forgot I was watching a movie. Also, as BHunt says, it's just another biopic. A good one, sure, and Marion Cotillard was awesome, but in this age of Ray and Walk the Line, I'm sort of over singer biopics.

One more thing - Edith's voice! It grew on me. I think that seeing "her" sing helped, but I still don't think I want an Edith Piaf album in my collection.

La Vie En Rose - B