La Vie en Rose

Marion Cotillard Director: Olivier Dahan Olivier Dahan

Overview

Writer/director Olivier Dahan (Crimson Rivers II) helmed La Vie en Rose, the screen biopic of tragic French songstress Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard portrays Piaf, the superstar once raised as a young girl by her grandmother in a Normandy bordello, then discovered on a French street corner -- as a complete unknown -- by cabaret proprietor Louis Leplée (Gérard Depardieu). The film segues breezily between various episodes from Piaf's life -- such as her lover, French boxer Marcel Cerdan's (Jean-Pierre Martins) championship bout in mid-'40s New York; her period in Hollywood during the '50s; Piaf's abandonment as a young girl by her contortionist father (and earlier by her mother, a street singer); her brushes with the law as an adult; and her 1951 car accident and subsequent morphine addiction that caused her to age well beyond her years and left her barely mobile; and, through it all, her ability (like Billie Holiday) to funnel personal tragedy and emotional struggles into her vocalizations -- dazzling audiences in the process.

Product Details

Release Date:	11/13/2007
UPC:	0026359441226
Original Release:	2007
Rating:	PG-13
Source:	Hbo Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby AC-3 Surround Sound]
Time:	2:21:00
Sales rank:	4,953

Special Features

Stepping Into Character - featurette detailing Marion Cotillard's amazing transformation into Édith Piaf

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Marion Cotillard	Edith Piaf
Sylvie Testud	Momone
Pascal Greggory	Louis Barrier
Emmanuelle Seigner	Titine
Jean-Paul Rouve	Louis Gassion, Edith's Father
Clotilde Courau	Anetta, Edith's Mother
Jean-Pierre Martins	Marcel Cerdan
Catherine Allegret	Louise
Marc Barbé	Raymond Asso
Gérard Depardieu	Louis Leplée
Cassandre Berger	Child Piaf (Singing Voice)
Caroline Sihol	Marlene Dietrich
Pauline Burlet	Edith Piaf (Aged 10)
Elisabeth Commelin	Danielle Bonel
Caroline Raynaud	Ginou
Marie-Armelle de Guy	Marguerite Monnot
Valeria Moreau	Jeanne
Jean-Paul Muel	Bruno Coquatrix
André Penvern	Jacques Canetti
Mario Hacquard	Charles Dumont
Aubert Fenoy	Michel Emer
Felix Belleau	Robert Juel
Ashley Wanninger	Leplée's Assistant
Nathalie Dorval	Mireille
Chantal Bronner	Josette
Cylia Malki	Philipo
Nathalie Dahan	Yvonne
Laurent Olmedo	Jacques Pills
Harry Hadden-Paton	Doug Davis
Laurent Schilling	Claude
Dominique Bettenfeld	Albert
Edith Le Merdy	Simone Margantin
Josette Menard	Mamy
Emy Levy	Brothel Girl
Lucie Stainkrycher	Brothel Girl
Vera Havelková	Brothel Girl
Jan Kuzelka	Brothel Client
Dominique Paturel	Lucien Roupp
Nicholas Pritchard	Jameson
William Armstrong	Clifford Fisher
Martin Sochor	O'Dett Spectator
Frederique Smetana	O'Dett Spectator
Lenka Kourilova	O'Dett Spectator
Pierre Derenne	Little Louis
Jan Filipensky	Fire Eater
Laura Menini	Circus Dancer
Oldrich Hurych	Clown
Mathias Honore	Mr. Loyal
Diana Stewart	American
Jean-Jacques Desplanque	Tony Zale
Alain Figlarz	Trainer
Robert Paturel	Man On Corner
Alban Casterman	Charles Aznavour
Olivier Cruveiller	Inspector Guillaume
Sébastien Tavel	Interviewer
Agathe Bodin	Suzanne
Nicole Dubois	Dressmaker
Martin Janis	Jean Mermoz
Eric Franquelin	Etienne
Marc Chapiteau	Mitty Goldin
Maureen Demidof	Marcelle
Philippe Bricard	Man At Lannes
Olivier Raoux	Waiter
Nathalie Cox	Pin-Up
Pierre Peyrichout	Journalist
Helena Gabrielova	Drunken Woman
Jaroslav Vizner	Party Man
Sophie Knitti	Bar Client
Helene Genet	Bar Client
Farida Amrouche	Aicha
Liliane Cebrian	Mind-Reader
Nicolas Simon	Church Journalist
Pascal Mottier	Boy
Thierry Guibault	Ostende Doctor
Garick Hagon	American Doctor
Ginou Richer	Neighbour
Vladimir Javorsky	Spectator In Street
Denis Menochet	Orly Journalist
David Jahn	Soldier
Sylvie Guichenuy	Woman In Street
Fabien Duval	Policeman
Pauline Nemcova	USA Journalist
Maya Barsony	Girl In Bar
Rodolphe Saulnier	Barman
Fedele Papalia	Fast Food Waiter
Zdena Herforova	Woman At Café Etiole
Pier Luigi Colombetti	Pub Customer
Olivier Carbone	Transvestite
Laurence Gormezano	Pub Waitress
Christophe Kourotchkine	Policeman
Christophe Odent	Dr. Bernay
Robert Nebrensky	Doctor At Dreux
Jaromir Janácek	Dreux Festival Director
Christopher Gunning	Orchestra Leader
Richard Hein	Orchestra Leader
Elliot Dahan	Child
Isaac Dahan	Child
Jil Aigrot	Edith Piaf's Singing Voice
Manon Chevallier	Edith Piaf (Aged 5)

Technical Credits

Olivier Dahan

Isabelle Sobelman

Olivier Dahan	Director,Screenwriter
Marit Allen	Costumes/Costume Designer
Timothy Burrill	Co-producer
Olivier Carbone	Casting
Stephane Cressend	Art Director
Marc Dosine	Sound Mixer
Edouard Dubois	Musical Direction/Supervision
E.M. Costa Ellis	Makeup
Ilan Goldman	Producer
Christopher Gunning	Score Composer,Musical Direction/Supervision
Mathias Honore	Asst. Director
Jean-Paul Hurier	Sound/Sound Designer
Nikolas Javelle	Sound Editor
Marc Jenny	Co-producer
Petra Kobedova	Art Director
Didier Lavergne	Makeup
Oldrich Mach	Asst. Director
Olda Mach	Co-producer
Richard Marizy	Editor
Catherine Morisse	Associate Producer
Tetsuo Nagata	Cinematographer
Gaël Nicolas	Sound Editor
Gabriela Polakova	Makeup
Michal Prikryl	Production Manager
Olivier Raoux	Art Director
Isabelle Sobelman	Screenwriter
Marc Vade	Production Manager
Cecile Vatelot	Art Director
Pascal Villard	Sound Editor
Laurent Zeilig	Sound/Sound Designer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- La Vie en Rose [Extended Version]
1. Heaven Have Mercy [9:04]
2. Keeping Édith [12:33]
3. Carried Away by the Crowd [8:29]
4. That's My Daughter [9:34]
5. Louis Leplée [10:34]
6. The Sparrow [9:32]
7. Back to Chalons [9:58]
8. Triumph [10:14]
9. In a World Apart [8:08]
10. One More Song [10:57]
11. Willing to Sacrifice All [13:19]
12. California Sun [7:03]
13. Everyone's Here [8:39]
14. The Curtain Goes Up [6:54]
15. Credits [5:17]

Menu

Disc #1 -- La Vie en Rose [Extended Version]
   Play Movie
   Chapters
   Languages
      Subtitles: English
      Subtitles: French
      Subtitles: Spanish
      Subtitles: Subtitles Off
   Bonus Feature
      Stepping Into Character
         Subtitles: English
         Subtitles: Spanish
         Subtitles Off

Editorial Reviews

When Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress Oscar for La Vie en Rose, it was one of the least-seen Best Actress performances in history, up there with Jessica Lange for Blue Sky. The win also left some pundits blaming that year's low TV ratings on a disconnect between Academy voters and the tastes of their audiences. But anyone familiar with Cotillard's earlier career -- an even smaller list -- would marvel at the utter transformation she underwent to portray Edith Piaf during the most sputtering, sallow, and irascible stages of her life. And that's just one of the ways in which recognizing Cotillard is consistent with Oscar standards. Beautiful enough to make her living as a model, Cotillard was just past 30 when she played Piaf. Yet her performance is so ragged and lived-in, it's hard to believe the singer was as young as 47 when liver cancer claimed her. (Thanks also go to the Oscar-winning makeup by Didier Lavergne and Jan Archibald.) As saucy as her characterization is, and as precisely as she impersonates Piaf's emotive showmanship, Cotillard does not have to carry this film, thanks to the terrific production design and the bravura of director Olivier Dahan. He's strong throughout, smoothly transitioning the action through the years to the tune of Piaf's incomparable voice. But in one particular sequence, when Piaf learns that her lover has died in a plane crash, he sustains a single traveling shot through her apartment, taking in her range of deteriorating emotions over the course of several minutes. It's in the same category of achievement as the more widely celebrated long takes in Children of Men and Atonement. La Vie en Rose is a biopic that's world-class in every sense, and Oscar's ability to recognize that says more, rather than less, about its contemporary relevance.

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