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La Vie en Rose
Picturehouse Entertainment


8.1

based on 29 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 47 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

The Promised Life

MPAA RATING: PG-13 for substance abuse, sexual content, brief nudity, language and thematic elements

Starring Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Paul Rouve, Gérard Depardieu, Clotilde Courau, and Jean-Pierre Martins

A swirling, impressionistic portrait of an artist who regretted nothing, writer-director Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose stars Marion Cotillard as the legendary French icon Edith Piaf. (Picturehouse)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Foreign \| Musical
WRITTEN BY:	Olivier Dahan Isabelle Sobelman
DIRECTED BY:	Olivier Dahan
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 13, 2007 Theatrical: June 8, 2007
RUNNING TIME:	140 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	France / UK / Czech Republic
LANGUAGE(S):	French (with English subtitles)

Original title "La Môme"; Nominated, Golden Berlin Bear, 2007 Berlin International Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose, one of the best biopics I've seen, tells Piaf's life story through the extraordinary performance of Marion Cotillard, who looks like the singer.

100

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

For Piaf fans, La Vie en Rose is a must-see. For fans yet-to-be, Dahan and Cotillard's film is an opportunity rich with discovery.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Olivier Dahan's sprawling portrait of the life of Edith Piaf is the kind of grand, passionate historical drama that no one seems to be able to pull off any more.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Dahan's impressionistic heartbreaker of a movie gets it all in. And Marion Cotillard, lip-syncing Piaf's songs and digging into her soul with gale-force urgency, gives a performance for the ages.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

It's sometimes wrenching to watch, but it's too gripping to turn away from.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Hurtling and impassioned, driven by some of the greatest popular music ever recorded, this wildly overripe and unkempt biopic is a true experience.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Cotillard brings honesty to histrionics. She makes Piaf - "the little sparrow" - soar.

Austin Chronicle Toddy Burton

How do you tell the true story of a mythical woman? In epic proportions, of course.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

It's not an ideal film, but it has the virtue of the ideal star, and that counts.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

If even half of Olivier Dahan's robust film about Piaf's life is true -- and let's face it, much remains shrouded in myth and mystery -- it's a wonder she could get dressed in the morning, let alone forge a legendary singing career.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

La Vie en Rose elevates Piaf the archetype over Piaf the artist. Although I question this approach, I'm not sure it could have been done any differently, at least given the facts of Piaf's life. If there is such a way, Duhan didn't find it.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Kamal AL-Solaylee

Surprisingly but fittingly, for a film about the life of a singer, the use of songs is generally elliptical.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Thanks to the extraordinary performance of Cotillard, who expertly lip- syncs to Piaf recordings and disappears into the part, few will regret seeing La Vie En Rose, named after a famous Piaf tune. Just brace yourself for a film of unvarying intensity that seems longer than its 140-minute running time.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The song for which Piaf is best-known - "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" ("No Regrets") - leads to a killer finale with Cotillard perfectly lip-synching Piaf's recording of it. Trust me; you'll want to own it.

Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern

The film is long and sometimes harrowing, but also enthralling.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

Marion Cotillard astonishes as Edith Piaf in 'La Vie en Rose.

Washington Post Philip Kennicott

Cotillard leaves you loving her Piaf, wishing you could reach through the screen and steer her life a bit differently.

USA Today Staff (Not credited)

There's a riveting tale within this awkward litany of pivotal moments. Still, despite the film's uneven nature, Cotillard's extraordinary performance is worth experiencing.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Wildly uneven.

Empire Anna Smith

A far-from-rosy life story makes this lengthy biopic entertaining, but despite a strong lead performance it fails to get under Piaf’s skin.

New York Magazine David Edelstein

She lip-syncs convincingly to Piaf's songs. Even when she overacts like mad, she makes you think she’s Piaf overacting like mad--the little sparrow with the foghorn pipes.

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

The film is messy the way Piaf's life was messy: It's unafraid of extravagant gestures even when they fail to come off.

San Francisco Chronicle Steven Winn

A feverish, unremitting and grimly joyless film.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

Dahan's filmmaking damn near sabotages the performance.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

La Vie en Rose, which Mr. Dahan wrote as well as directed, has an intricate structure, which is a polite way of saying that it's a complete mess... In the end, as often happens in movies of this kind, La Vie en Rose is saved by Piaf herself.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Uplifted beyond its merits by a stunning performance from Marion Cotillard, the humdrum biopic of Edith Piaf, La Vie En Rose, jogs obligingly along with Piaf the legend rather than the woman.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Marion Cotillard tears up all the available scenery in this overblown, achronological biopic of French pop singer Edith Piaf.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

For all its florid pretensions and epic length, the film's overwrought take on its subject's not-so-rosy life leaves behind no lasting insight.

Time Richard Schickel

There is no rhyme or reason to this jumble -- except perhaps to stress Edith's endless self-victimization. This lack of narrative coherence naturally has the effect of distancing us from her story.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.1 (out of 10) based on 47 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

bob G. gave it a9:
i'm not sure if the construction of the history was the best, but for me it was good enough; but what mezemerize me the most is the exceptional performance of Cotillard.

Jake P. gave it a10:
I don't typically attack other postings in my review, but the fact that 'advance scout team' guy Mark B. spent such a great deal of effort degrading Cotilllard's brilliant performance is baffling to me. This movie was extraordinarily well made, and Cotillard's performance is impeccable. This is the stuff of legends. Great film.

Vera C gave it a9:
Mesmerizing. Marion Cotillard 10, rest of ensemble 9, movie 8. Watched it on the plane and later rented the DVD and on rewatching admired the feel and the flow of movie even more. Think the non-linear telling makes it a better movie.

Jason A gave it a10:
fitting an entire life into a film is impossible. and so with that i say the editing and storyline was bold and courageous. at the expense of having the viewer keep up with the timeline, the movie gave life to the deep tragedies her voice carried in her songs.

Gina C. gave it a3:
The jumpy editing ruined it for me; it kicked me right out of the movie and prevented real involvement in, and caring about, the main character. And Why did the movie skip over the years of WWII? I hope in future someone makes a good movie about Edith Piaf. She's an interesting subject and deserves a well-done film bio. This isn't it.

Barry J. gave it a9:
Totally engrossing. The audience stood and applauded at the end. Marion Cotillard was excellent. One of the finest film experiences I have ever had. And the directing and editing were very effective. You came to understand the pitiful, wasted life of this artist who rode so high but could not shake her drug and alcohol problems or her roots. Like Janis Joplin, her body only lasted into her early forties. The movie tells the story so faithfully, sadly, unfortunately. But so elegantly. Certainly worthy of nomination.

Xavier P. gave it a10:
Beautiful, compelling, perfect acting (Oscar caliber), capturing.

La Vie en Rose Picturehouse Entertainment

La Vie en Rose
Picturehouse Entertainment