La môme (2007)

	Also Known As: La Vie en Rose (English)
	Year of first release: 2007
	Director: Olivier Dahan (La Vie Promise, Les rivières pourpres 2)
	Actors: Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises, Inception), Gerard Depardieu (Astérix and Obélix, 36 quai des orfèvres), Jean-Paul Rouvre (RRRrrrr!!!), Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory
	Country: F
	Genre: Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 27.01.2016, SD VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: The life story of the famous French singer Edith Piaf who also became popular in the USA in the 60's.
Review: It has been a while that I wanted to watch this movie that received many awards. It is interesting to see how many movies are made in France about our singers, and how different they all are: the comedies Podium about Claude Francois and Jean-Philippe about Johnny Halliday, and Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) about the man with the cabbage head. La môme is closest to this last one because of the dramatic aspects, and it largely surpasses it in that domain. Edith Piaf did have an early life full of drama that apparently forged her special character which I actually didn't know about.   The best in this movie is undoubtedly the performance by Marion Cotillard, wearing a realistic prosthetic make-up when portraying the older Edith, otherwise looking more like herself. Her stance, voice and gesture bring a lot to the credibility of the character, being in large shots or in extreme close-ups when she syncs her lips to the original songs by Edith Piaf. It is thus no surprise that she won the Academy Award in 2008. On the other hand, I didn't like so much the editing of the movie, at the beginning quite cleverly alternating between the dramas in the singer's youth and in her last days thanks to daydreaming transitions. But later in the movie as the early days of her success are told in the right order, events in her last years are too mixed up and I got confused, also because I was not familiar with her story so I had a hard time to follow some ellipses. All in all a interesting view on a dramatic life.
Rating: 6 /10