La môme (2007)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Olivier Dahan

Writers:

Olivier Dahan (writer)
Isabelle Sobelman (writer)

Release Date:

14 February 2007 (Belgium)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The extraordinary life of Edith Piaf

Plot:

The life story of singer Édith Piaf.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | Childhood | Song | Memory | Circus

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 29 wins & 33 nominations

Cast

Marion Cotillard	...	Edith Piaf
Sylvie Testud	...	Mômone
Pascal Greggory	...	Louis Barrier
Emmanuelle Seigner	...	Titine
Jean-Paul Rouve	...	Louis Gassion
Gérard Depardieu	...	Louis Leplée
Clotilde Courau	...	Anetta
Jean-Pierre Martins	...	Marcel Cerdan
Catherine Allégret	...	Louise
Marc Barbé	...	Raymond Asso
Caroline Sihol	...	Marlene Dietrich (as Caroline Silhol)
Manon Chevallier	...	Edith - 5 years old
Pauline Burlet	...	Edith - 10 years old
Elisabeth Commelin	...	Danielle Bonel
Marc Gannot	...	Marc Bonel

Also Known As:

Edith Piaf (Czech Republic)
La vie en rose (USA) (new title)
Life in Pink (USA) (informal alternative title)
The Little Girl (USA) (literal English title)
The Passionate Life of Edith Piaf (International: English title)
Untitled Edith Piaf Project (France) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for substance abuse, sexual content, brief nudity, language and thematic elements. (also extended edition)

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

France | UK | Czech Republic

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Germany:12 | Finland:K-11 | USA:PG-13 | UK:12A | Ireland:15A | Argentina:13 | France:U | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:PG-13 (extended edition) | Hong Kong:IIA | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:12 | Sweden:7 | Taiwan:PG-12 | New Zealand:M | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Barrandov Studios, Prague, Czech Republic

Company:

Légende Films

Trivia:

Marion Cotillard is one of only five actors to have won an Academy Award for a part spoken mainly in a foreign language. Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, Benicio Del Toro and Roberto Benigni are the other four.

Goofs:

Factual errors: In the fight, Cerdan is several inches taller and heftier than his opponent, Tony Zale. In fact, both stood 5'8", and weighed roughly 154 pounds.

Quotes:

Raymond Asso: You're an immense artist!
Edith Piaf: I'm wearing high heels.

Movie Connections:

Featured in 14th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Non, je ne regrette rien

A Magnificent Biopic, but Overwhelmingly Sad

Piaf's tumultuous life receives a superb framework in this excellent biopic. I've read some criticism of Dahan's editing style which switches often to various parts of her all-too-brief life, but with a woman of such roiling emotions and dramatic upheavals, how could it not be so? The two things I found missing here were her WWII Resistance activities and her final marriage to a man twenty years her junior. But then again the film might have approached the three- hour mark and at nearly two and a half, you walk away feeling as though you witnessed a train wreck in slow-mo. Please do not let this prevent you from seeing an astonishingly fine recreation of a life that is so fully lived you cannot believe it. Piaf's magnificent, emotional singing is fully complemented by Cotillards balls to the wall performance. Heart and soul are in total sync here and Cotillard manages to age astonishingly well. This is a terrible tale of a child grotesquely abandoned emotionally by her parents. Piaf's will to live is inspiring even in the face of self-destruction that makes Judy Garland's own battles with alcohol and drugs seem minor in comparison. The parallels to both women are hard to ignore. The rest of the cast is first-rate, and the film beautifully evokes the eras covered in her life. Best of all there is the great Piaf recorded legacy which is well-handled here. There's no sense that Cotillard is not singing and that's a testament to the skill that suffuses this fine film. Excellent.