Saturday, August 11, 2007

Review of La Vie en Rose

This afternoon I went to see La Vie en Rose with my (ex)step dad and his fiance. I wasn't to psyched about it, though it seemed like it could be interesting. La Vie en Rose is the story of the French singer, Edith Piaf. This film bored me to tears (didn't help that the chairs made my back hurt either!). I was unable to muster any (good) feelings for Piaf in this film. She seemed selfish, mean, petty, and OMG so terribly awkward that I was uncomfortable watching. Having never observed the actual Edith Piaf, I cannot be sure of if she was actually like this in real life, but in the film she was constantly in terrible posture, walked very clumsily, held her mouth in a repulsive way and generally... well was so completely without grace that I was pretty annoyed at watching her. The actress was not really unattractive, but the posture, the mannerisms! Ick. I've known a lot of awkward people, but all of them have at least moments of grace and movements that are not awkward... not this portrayal :) I could have gotten past this horror, likely, if she had gained my sympathy in any way... the fact is, though, that the only time I had sympathy for her was in the parts that showed her childhood... and apparently she was not ungraceful as a child in this film (strange how one would grow into that...).

So yeah, I'm going on and on about this lack of grace etc... probably seems a shallow evaluation, but I also tried pretty hard to sympathize with her. Piaf was a great singer who survived great tragedies and died young (47, I think). But while I felt sorry for her childhood (and it was rough) I just couldn't bring myself to excuse her growing into (if this portrayal was accurate) such an inconsiderate and selfish bitch as an adult. A lot of people have terrible childhoods and grow up to be very nice. Also, it seemed like she and all of the people around her justified her meanness by her being such a great Artiste... and I also find this to be no justification. I'm and "artiste" as well, and I happened to have a crappy childhood, but it gives me no right to make other people unhappy (and also gave her none).

So in all I can say I did not like the story of the film. The music was good, but I really left not wanting to hear her voice... I don't know if they were trying to vilify this woman, but I can say she is definitely an "Artiste" I'm glad to not have known or supported in any way (if this film was accurate). And I would not recommend this film to my friends because it was just too slow, too long and way too uncomfortable to watch.