Film Review: La Vie en Rose

Everybody knows the name of Edith Piaf. Her voice is part of French history. I was so anxious to learn more about her life and to have the pleasure of listening to her singing. I was disappointed. I think the failure is due to editing more than anything else. The film begins in 1959 in New York. Edith Piaf is singing on stage when she collapses. The film then goes back to her childhood. This is a common technique and I have no problem with this. The film continues to jump around from her childhood and youth to her adult life. Titles are written on the screen stating the location and the date but it makes for a jerky film. I found it unsettling. I think the actors did as fine a job as possible.
We do see the terrible difficulties of her childhood. Her mother left home. Her father took her to live in a brothel. It was interesting to see how well cared she was by the ‘ladies’ in the brothel. They seemed to love her. At one point she becomes blind and we see her walking around with her eyes covered. Her sight mysteriously returned. Her father later returns and takes her away. She begins singing on the street and realizes that she has a great voice that could earn her money. Her name was changed from her birth name to Piaf which means little sparrow.
As a personality I found her to be a pathetic character. She always had people around her. She had a temper. She took drugs. She was not a pleasant person. Her one great love was a married heavy weight champion. He died in a plane crash and her life seemed to crash around her after that event.
Maybe I was disturbed by her tragic life. Maybe it was the film. I only know that I wasn’t full of joy as I had expected.