La Vie en Rose (2007) on Netflix
PG-1320072h 20mBiographyDramaMusicRomance
Édith Piaf is raised in a brothel and on the streets of Paris, singing for her supper. Louis Leplée, a nightclub owner, hears her in Montmartre and gives her the name Piaf.
- Netflix3.7/5
- IMDb7.5/1094,667 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes74%
Trailer
Plot summary
Édith is the child of a mother who sings on the streets for change and a father who works as a contortionist. As a small girl she is left with her paternal grandmother, a madam in Normandy whose brothel becomes her home, and a young sex worker named Titine looks after her through a bout of keratitis that leaves her eyes bandaged. Her father returns from the war and takes her along on his travels, first with a circus and then onto the streets of Paris, where a crowd gathers when she sings La Marseillaise. She and her friend Mômone wander the city, and she sings for their meals. In Montmartre, the nightclub owner Louis Leplée hears her and puts the nervous young singer on his stage.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about La Vie en Rose (2007)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Marion Cotillard's Oscar for Édith Piaf was the first ever given for a French-language performance, and she also won the BAFTA, Golden Globe and César awards for best actress for the role.
- Producers first wanted Audrey Tautou as Édith Piaf; her agent Laurent Grégoire said Tautou asked "Who is going to be interested in a film about Édith Piaf?", so they lost interest and Grégoire suggested his other client, Marion Cotillard.
- Producer Alain Goldman defended casting Marion Cotillard, but French distributor TF1 cut $5 million from the budget because it thought she was not "bankable" enough; director Olivier Dahan insisted he would not make the film without her.
- Marion Cotillard shaved back her hairline and her eyebrows and spent up to five hours in the makeup chair to play an older Édith Piaf; a foot taller than Piaf, she worked barefoot in shortwaisted dresses while other actors wore stacked shoes.
- Dahan wanted tight close-ups of Cotillard and argued with his director of photography and makeup artist, who doubted the 30-year-old actress could be made to look old enough in close-up; Cotillard said he pushed them to find a way.
- Singer Jil Aigrot was chosen to perform Piaf's songs after Piaf's longtime secretary Ginou Richer heard her sing at a book signing, asked her to perform on the spot and called director Olivier Dahan to recommend her.
- After La Vie en Rose premiered at the Berlin Film Festival to a 15-minute standing ovation, Hollywood talent agent Hylda Queally signed Marion Cotillard.
