Life In Pink...

...is what La Vien Rose (Marion Cotillard, dir. Olivier Dahan) means in French. It's the title of one of the Edith Piaf songs and the latest movie made about her. Piaf is not that well known in the States these days, but in France she is, even now, almost half a century dead, a national icon. It's a daunting challenge to make movies about the lives of such figures. Dahan chose to forego the the conventional linear narrative, the picture book type of biography that is so liable to suffer from sagging narrative. Instead he gives us a whirlwind of flashbacks and flashforwards through the short, but tumultuous life of Piaf. The film moves at a brisk pace and leaves out many parts and lovers of Piaf's life, skipping over even WWII. It really doesn't serve at all as retelling the story of Piaf's life, rather distilling it, just as furiously alternating between highs and lows as she did. It is dramatic and emotional, and is likely to sweep up the viewer. Cotillard brilliantly portrays the petite, fragile singer with big personality, brash temperament and immense voice. Her Piaf is gawky, passionate and explosive. Her immersing performance alone makes the film worth watching.

(June 30, 2007)

I guess I should explain myself. I have been a movie fan from a young age. My earliest movie memory is of Zorro. It so impressed me I made a drawing of it. As a teenager I read movie magazines, not the glossy kind but the black and white ones with lots of text. Oh yeah, I also grew up in Eastern Europe back when the cold war was still cold. There were only two tv channels, one was only broadcast only half day, and even the main channel shut down at around midnight. However there must have been a few cinephiles working for the state television because every sunday afternoon they would show works of great directors and actors from around the world. That's how I got introduced to Jean Cocteau, Kurosawa, the French New Wave, Billy Wilder, Fellini, etc.

I loved the movies. It was pure escapism, I was also a rabid reader at the time. I eventually moved to the US and a lot of things changed, but I still like movies. I won't pretend to be particularly knowledgeable about them, or have a refined taste. The gaps in my knowledge are huge, and while in theory I accept the greatness of Italian Neo Realism I don't enjoy it. I happen to know a couple of movie buffs, and as we are swapping dvds we talk about what new movies the other should check out, or what old ones we might have missed. One of them gave me the idea to start a quasi movie blog. Not even so much a blog, but a movie recommendation page for whoever might be interested. Or an amateur collection of movies. Or something along those lines. I mostly aim at the lesser known films. Nobody needs telling what a great movie The Godfather is. However, I'm not very good at sticking to my guns. Enjoy.