Review: Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold

Reviews

La Môme|La Vie en Rose

A wonder of a bio-pic in lush, matted reds

By TOM MEEK | June 13, 2007

3.0 Stars

Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf

Full of lush, matted reds and spot-on period sets, Olivier Dahan’s bio-pic about French chanteuse Edith Piaf is a scrumptious wonder. As Piaf, Marion Cotillard (last seen as object of desire Fanny Chenal in A Good Year) is a lioness in the guise of a bird, with large, luminescent eyes that serve as wondrous windows into the singer’s troubled soul. Trouble pervades the story, which begins with Piaf collapsing on stage, circa 1959, and then flashes back through the self-destructive boozing, morphine addiction, and irrepressible id. Piaf’s all-consuming songs give the film passion and purpose, the early years in poverty and a brothel touch the heart, but Dahan sweeps perfunctorily by WW2 and Piaf’s relationship with Yves Montand. Marlene Dietrich does get worked in elegantly, as does boxer Marcel Cerdan (Jean-Pierre Martins), Piaf’s one true love, who proved one more thorn on the rose.

Related: Jill Aigrot, The girls of summer, Bytes, More

Topics: Reviews , Edith Piaf, Olivier Dahan, Marion Cotillard, More

| More

ARTICLES BY TOM MEEK

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | May 17, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture ( i.e. , Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, and American Idol ) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: THE PIRATES! BAND OF MISFITS | April 24, 2012
Peter Lord, animator behind claymation staples Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run , directs this very British, very dry romp on the high seas during the time when Britannia did indeed rule the waves.

REVIEW: GOD BLESS AMERICA | April 18, 2012
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture (i.e., Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and American Idol) and the indignity of being an office drone.

REVIEW: UNDEFEATED | March 15, 2012
Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin's Oscar-winning documentary about an underequipped high-school football team competing against big-time programs across Tennessee offers a potent contemplation on race and opportunity.

REVIEW: DR. SEUSS' THE LORAX | March 01, 2012
Regrettably, this team loses a lot of Seuss's quirkiness, though not the message about corporate greed and slash-and-burn imperialism.