An Amateur's Thoughts on La Vie en Rose

La Vie en Rose was, to me, like a car accident - chaotic and at times grotesque, but you just can't look away. Here are a few of my thoughts on the movie:

~Marion Cotillard definitely deserves her Oscar nod, as I found her believable playing all different ages as Edith Piaf. As Piaf was quite eccentric, this must have been a difficult role to play. She became Edith Piaf.

~The music in the film is fabulous. Even those who are not familiar with French music will recognize bits and pieces along the way.

~The movie focuses on the theme of loss throughout Piaf's life. I'm not sure why, but even though I came away overwhelming sad, I never cried or even teared up during the film. Her life was terribly sad, and yet she was not a sad person so you don't necessarily feel sorry for her.

~I think the movie made Edith Piaf seem much weirder than she really was. I came away from the movie almost weary because she seemed to be crazy and erratic for most of her life, but when I looked up some information on her it seemed that, while she did live on the wild side, she wasn't as insane, alcoholic, and drug-addicted as she seemed in the movie.

~The movie jumped around in time a lot. While that can be confusing, I generally enjoy it in a movie because it makes me think more. This was out of control, though. There were so many scenes that were never revisited and I kept waiting for the story to pick them up or tie them in. I get that they were there just to give an idea of the kind of life she was living, but I came away with a frustrated and vague idea of the chronology of her life.

~Finally, I don't mind foreign language films at all, but an entire movie in French is just annoying.

~Oh, and there is a TON of screaming in the movie (you know those crazy, passionate French people). It overwhelmed me a bit.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either.

Guest blogger AK's other writings can be found at Pulitzer Palavar.