La vie en rose (2007, French/Euro)

I’ll just come out and say it – I couldn’t stand this movie. The filmmakers use so many lazy tricks in order to create drama that I grew frustrated about a third of the way through, and pretty much resigned myself to annoyance. First, they assume that their audience automatically knows enough about the life of Edith Piaf that they don’t really need to create characters for any of their actors to play. No one is introduced, no one is given a real arc or much in the way of context. Second, the structure of the film is so haywire that the audience is pulled back and forth through time, with little care for the development of story or pathos. The two problems are intertwined – without a coherent structure, it’s hard to build a sense of character, and sooner or later there’s very little to care about here at all. As for Marion Cotillard – she’s very good, but due to the deficits of the film, it feels as if she developed a caricature rather than any sense of a real person.

But maybe I’m the wrong person to listen to, as I have many problems with biopics, in particular with those that attempt to glorify artists. La vie certainly doesn’t shy away from Piaf’s alcoholism or her dependence on painkillers, but nothing is shown of her activities during WWII, and only coy nods are made at the rumors of bisexuality. The deathbed confession also irks greatly – even if it’s true, the film feels like it's grasping for unearned tears. It’s a familiar trope with biopics, one that rarely ceases to bother.