Marriage License by Norman Rockwell
Click the picture for an unonbstructed view
Source: Art.com
Featured:
Navigation
CC's Random Thoughts
Franklin, TN, USA
Manila, Philippines
Temperature:
As of :
Temperature:
As of :
Background pictures illustrate current weather conditions
CC's Tweets
Sunday, June 01, 2008
La Vie en Rose
Current Mood: CC is listening to: In the Groove--Richard Elliot (Jumpin' Off) Steve and I watched La Vie en Rose last night.
After seeing it, Steve and I weren't surprised that the woman who played Edith Piaf (Marion Cotillard) won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Actress (the first performer to ever win it for a performance entirely in French) and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a musical. She played Edith Piaf throughout all the adult stages of her life: from young woman until her death.
I wish I could find pictures of the character at the last stage of her life. She was old, hunched over, gravelly, in pain--the acting was achingly real. I had to remind myself that she was only 48 when she died, but she was so sick (she had liver cancer) she looked like she was dying of old age. I wanted to reach in and help her walk, help her sit down (despite the fact that she'd probably cuss me out in the process). As she was dying, I felt her fear--it scared me too. I felt very mortal during that scene.
As for the movie itself, the scenes aren't chronological--they jump back and forth between the past and the present. Towards the end I realized that the "past" scenes were not so much done for the purpose of providing a documentary snapshot, but that they were showing Edith's memories as she wanted to remember them--because she holds back on a very significant event of her life until the end, when she couldn't control what she remembered anymore.
Steve and I didn't know much about Edith Piaf's life until we saw the movie. As we were watching, every so often we would shake our heads and say things like, "You've GOT to be kidding me," "That poor woman is cursed," and "Okay, what's going to happen to YOU?" At one point Steve said, "Man, if my life was like that I'd probably be drinking and shooting up too." At the same time, her faith in prayer impressed me--it was one of the few constants in her life despite everything that had happened to her.
So what did I think of the movie? I liked it, but not as much as I liked Cotillard's performance in it. I'm glad I watched La Vie en Rose because I now have a greater appreciation of Edith Piaf's songs when I listen to them. I don't understand French well enough to be able to sing her songs from memory, but she sings so expressively that I think I can pretty much pick up on what she meant to say :-).
I know already did this in another post, but just in case you wanted to take a second look at the preview, I'm posting it here too :-).
Or Via E-Mail:
