La Vie en Rose‘s success hinges solely on the portrayal of Edith Piaf by Marion Cotillard. Ms. Cotillard is brilliant and worthy of the Academy Award she garnered for this film. Outside of her mesmerizing performance, however, this film isn’t particular good. Oh, the music is just fine, but the narrative through-line is muddled by too much jumping around in Piaf’s life. I never knew where I was, how old Piaf was, or exactly what stage of her career she was in. Granted, I’m not familiar with the person of Piaf, so maybe this chronological shake-up helped the uber-familiar French viewer, but for me it was confusing and unnecessary.
This would have been a much better film were it told in chronological order and told much shorter. There is no reason whatsoever that it needed to be 140 minutes. A tight 120 minutes would have served the audience better without losing anything of importance in relaying the story or character of Edith Piaf.
Overall, I would recommend seeing the film if you’re a fan of Piaf or you simply want to see Cotillard’s breath-taking performance. If you fall into neither of these catagories, might I instead suggest Amelie as a much more enjoyable French film alternative.
