Even if you've never listened to a single song by Edith Piaf, it's impossible to be unmoved by this biopic — in all probability the film will have you rushing to buy a CD as soon as the lights come on.
Gorgeously lit and shot, and showcasing a superb performance by Marion Cotillard ("A Good Year") as Piaf, it is defined by the foremost important ingredient of a good biopic: the director's fascination for his subject.
Olivier Dahan is better known as a maker of music videos than feature films ("Crimson River 2" in 2004 was his last foray) but "La vie en rose" (released in Japan as "Edith Piaf ai no Sanka") demonstrates a confident command over the material and a deft, manipulative style that takes the viewer on an emotional roller-coaster ride of heavenly highs and wallowing-in-mud lows. But then this was what Piaf's life was like; from the moment she was born (on a back street in Belleville, Paris), to her death at the age of 47, her life never ceased to be anything but crammed with drama, melodrama, passion and tragedy.