Môme, La (2007)

Director:

Olivier Dahan

Writers:

Olivier Dahan (writer)
Isabelle Sobelman (writer)

Release Date:

14 February 2007 (Belgium)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | Music

Tagline:

The extraordinary life of Edith Piaf

Plot:

The life story of singer Edith Piaf.

Plot Keywords:

Grandmother | Drug Abuse | Fantasy Sequence | Accident | Contortionist

Awards:

Won 2 Oscars. Another 29 wins & 32 nominations

Cast

Marion Cotillard	...	Edith Piaf
Sylvie Testud	...	Mômone
Pascal Greggory	...	Louis Barrier
Emmanuelle Seigner	...	Titine
Jean-Paul Rouve	...	Louis Gassion
Gérard Depardieu	...	Louis Leplée
Clotilde Courau	...	Anetta
Jean-Pierre Martins	...	Marcel Cerdan
Catherine Allégret	...	Louise
Marc Barbé	...	Raymond Asso
Caroline Sihol	...	Marlene Dietrich (as Caroline Silhol)
Manon Chevallier	...	Edith - 5 years old
Pauline Burlet	...	Edith - 10 years old
Elisabeth Commelin	...	Danielle Bonel
Marc Gannot	...	Marc Bonel

Also Known As:

Edith Piaf (Czech Republic)
Life in Pink (USA) (informal alternative title)
The Little Girl (USA) (literal English title)
The Passionate Life of Edith Piaf (International: English title)
Untitled Edith Piaf Project (France) (working title)
Vie en rose, La (USA) (new title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for substance abuse, sexual content, brief nudity, language and thematic elements. (also extended edition)

Runtime:

140 min

Country:

France | UK | Czech Republic

Language:

French | English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Ireland:15A | USA:PG-13 | USA:PG-13 (extended edition) | France:U | Hong Kong:IIA | Philippines:PG-13 | Brazil:12 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Germany:12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | New Zealand:M | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Sweden:7 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:12 | Finland:K-11 | UK:12A | Taiwan:PG-12

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Légende

Trivia:

Marion Cotillard is one of only five actors to have won an Academy Award for a part spoken mainly in a foreign language. Sophia Loren, Robert De Niro, Benicio Del Toro and Roberto Benigni are the other four.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: A scene identified by a supertitle as taking place in February of 1940 (where a young soldier plays a song for Edith Piaf in her apartment), a camera briefly shows a magazine on a coffee table. The magazine is "Paris Match," which was not founded for almost another decade (in 1949).

Quotes:

Edith Piaf: [to Marcel] You are my champion. I want you to be mine for life. Nothing existed before you. It's all gone.
[kisses him]
Edith Piaf: Stay with me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Frou Frou

I liked the film despite its several flaws

I saw the film almost a month ago, when it was released here in Israel. I like Edith Piaf's songs very much, and the movie makes you believe that a woman who gave us those songs was the one we see on the screen. Marion Cotillard is superb in this role, her heroine is vulnerable, doomed and dignified at the same time. I don't agree with those who say her performance is melodramatic, because the singer WAS very emotional and even melodramatic (though in a perfectly natural way) in real life too (as all the biographers remark).

One thing about the movie that annoyed me a little was the switches of time frames. I understand the purpose of it. During the first 15 minutes we get to see the sickly little girl, then Edith Piaf's days of glory and' finally, her last days, when she was a tortured creature and looked like a 70-year old woman. So even while living through the singer's happiest days we never forget how it would end quite soon. But sometimes these switches seem unnecessary and distracting. The other flaw is that a viewer must be well-familiar with the singer's biography, otherwise it would be difficult for one to understand certain moments in the film.

I don't have much to say about the director's masterful work, honestly there is none. The director had the story of life, he had the music and the haunting voice of the great singer. The latter is what makes most of the emotional impact. But I would recommend this movie sincerely, Marion Cotillard's acting alone would make it worth watching, and there are other beautiful things in it as well. The movie never seems too long, and its last minutes are very emotional, when Edith Piaf is led to the stage, she can hardly walk, and then she starts to sing 'No regrets' and transforms completely.