La Vie en Rose is a recent French film depicting the life of Edith Piaf. Piaf is a name I knew but I knew nothing of the details of her life. The title song is a recognizable melody, but this tells me how short even international fame is once a singer dies. Yet...
For those as little cultured as I am, she was a French singer of the 1930s to the very early 1960s. It is a tragic, sad film with very few light moments and even those always in the context of her willful need to be both loved and independent. The music is extraordinarily beautiful, the acting is world class and the story is not one to be forgotten easily.
I recommend the film for a rainy winter day. There are some YouTube shorts of the real Edith Piaf singing her signature songs. I recommend these highly. Of course, now I will be out looking for Piaf's records.
I am always amazed at the haunting quality of the right song sung by the right voice supported by the right heart in the context of a tragic life. The film director says he intended to portray the life of the artist. He succeeded. Bon.
