The World Entertainment News Network has named La Vie en Rose the sixth best film of the year, and has a nice bit about Marion’s performance:
6. La Vie En Rose Marion Cotillard has already won the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of tragic torch singer Edith Piaf in this heartbreaking film. The French actress truly ‘becomes’ Piaf and even she admits she “channeled” the spirit of the legendary performer, who died too young, for the part. A true cinema masterpiece.
Here’s my end of the year wrap-up. I, too, haven’t seen all the big movies (There Will Be Blood, Into the Wild), but here are my favorite films this year:
ONCE
Once is one of the best films produced this decade, and is certainly one of the finest musicals (modern musical, really) ever made. Beautiful, intimate, and poignant, every time I watch this film I am hit by this intense rush of feeling. It’s a very simple story about Guy and Girl, both passionate musicians stuck in humdrum jobs (he fixes vacuum cleaners with his dad, she cleans houses and sells flowers). They meet one night while he is busking and immediately form a bond over music. Girl encourages Guy to record some his music, with her playing piano and singing back-up, and to go after his estranged girlfriend in London. The two leads aren’t actors, but rather singer-songwriters. Their acting is charming and engaging, helped enormously by a wonderful script, but it’s the music that’ll stick with you. Almost like a Broadway musical, the music is well-placed int he film and plays a part in furthering the story. Glen Hansard (Guy) and Marketa Irglova (Girl), especially Irglova as she sings him “The Hill” midway through, act the songs as well as they perform them. If I had my way, this film would take Best Picture at the Oscars, but that seems unlikely. After being snubbed by the Golden Globes, I am confident Hansard and Irglova will score Best Original Song nominations for “Falling Slowly” and “If You Want Me.” I highly recommend this film and its soundtrack, though I’m sure you won’t be able to resist buying the soundtrack after watching the movie.
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
Despite my admiration for Tim Burton, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alan Rickman, I had reservations about this film. Can the actors really sing? Will Sweeney Todd, my favorite musical, end up being a Broadway play caught on tape rather than a film? My questions were answered, and let me just say: Thank God for Tim Burton and screenwriters John Logan (the screenwriter)! They’ve made a brilliant film out of Stephen Sondheim’s genius musical. And, I should say, with Sweeney Todd, Johnny Depp officially proves that he can do anything. His singing voice is rough and harsh, which works wonderfully for the character. His acting is also top notch; he is completely transfixing, and, somehow, makes it feel as though the audience is participating rather than just watching. Angela Lansbury’s Mrs. Lovett was always the play’s laugh-getter, and Lansbury, who is brilliant (I saw a recording of the televised play), hams it up for the crowd. Bonham Carter has a quieter wit about her as Mrs. Lovett, which wouldn’t work for a play but works wonders for the film. Her singing voice isn’t as robust as Lansbury’s, but it is rather light and airy (“A woman with limited wind,” as Mrs. Lovett sings in ‘The Worst Pies in London’) which really fits the character. She and Depp earned well-deserved Golden Globes for their performances, and I’d like to see them make it to the Oscars, with Depp winning (finally!) for Best Actor. Burton’s direction is fast and exciting — excellent, really, and I’d like to see him walk away with the directing statue. Dante Ferretti’s production design, Colleen Atwood’s costumes, and Dariusz Wolski’s cinematography should also be noted. Every piece comes together beautifully to make this film a modern masterpiece.
ATONEMENT
I’m not the type who goes for the big, sweeping epics; Cold Mountain didn’t seem to end, The English Patient put me to sleep, and Dreamgirls gave me a headache. What sets Atonement apart, however, is the beating heart at the center of the story. It’s a romance you care about, you actually feel. Boosted by excellent performances from central actors James McAvoy and Keira Knightley as well as supporting players Saoirse Ronan and Vanessa Redgrave (in a heart rendering cameo at the end of the film), the film grips you from the first shot and never loses energy. Joe Wright’s direction, while not particularly original, is great. He gives us several beautiful shots, and with the help of Seamus McGarvey’s gorgeous cinematography, Atonement is arguably the most visually stunning film of the year so far. Christopher Hampton’s screenplay bounces along at a quick pace, and though sometimes his adaptation gets a little stuffy or self-aware, it provides us with a wonderful story of love, loss, betrayal, misunderstandings, regret, redemption, and, of course, the possibility of atonement. A special note should be made of Dario Marianelli’s inventive score, which helps keep the energy of the film high and adds an extra layer to every scored scene. It really is rater remarkable how much his score adds to the overall feel of the film.
Some other films that made the grade for me: La Vie en Rose; Knocked Up; Juno; Superbad; No Country For Old Men; Ratatouille
Marion has been named by USA Today as one of the Top 100 People of 2007. She comes in at #57, in between Quentin Tarantino at #58 and Roky Erikson at #56. The blurb also mentions an upcoming project with “No. 41” — Javier Bardem:
57. Marion Cotillard. The French actress embodied the soul of Edith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. Chances are, we’ll be hearing much from her in the years to come; her next project is a film with No. 41 on this list.
La Vie en Rose has placed on a few more top 10 lists — two in Vancouver and one in Atlanta.
Two critics from Canadian entertainment site, straight.com, both have La Vie en Rose as one of the ten best films of the year (there are no rankings). Janet Smith says:
Edith Piaf’s surreal life becomes a gorgeously wrought morphine dream punctuated by poignant revelations. It helps that Marion Cotillard seems to channel the “little sparrow” herself.
Mark Harris, another columnist, says:
Here solely on account of its star, Marion Cotillard, whose interpretation of Edith Piaf is nonpareil.
Felicia Feaster of Atlanta’s Creative Loafing puts La Vie en Rose at the number 2 spot, having this to say about the film:
Director Olivier Dahan’s subtext-laden, tight and emotionally devastating film about the legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf was far from the sorrow-jonesing, pity-party biopic too many critics dismissed this film as. Because along with Marion Cotillard’s uncanny impersonation of Piaf, La Vie en Rose was a film that did that rarest of things: celebrating with style, sadness and wit the life of an exceptional and exceptionally damaged woman who never succumbed to the worst life gave her.
In this month’s issue, Entertainment Weekly columnist Missy Schwartz has named Marion Cotillard‘s performance in La Vie en Rose as one of the best of the year, joining the likes of Hal Holbrook (Into the Wild), Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Keri Russell (Waitress) and Javier Bardem/Josh Brolin (No Country For Old Men).
My scanner isn’t working, but there is a small blurb about her performance in the issue, which reads:
A striking beauty, Cotillard shaved her eyebrows and hairline to play Edith Piaf. But the physical transformation is only part of what makes her performance remarkable. Her Piaf is crass, funny, vulnerable — everything that endeared her to her fans. When the actress mimes “Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien” with uncanny precision, she even turns lip-synching into an art.
The magazine is on news stands now.
ALSO, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times has named La Vie en Rose one of the top ten films of the year. It comes in at number 8.
1. Juno
2. No Country for Old Men
3. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
4. Atonement
5. The Kite Runner
6. Away From Her
7. Across the Universe
8. La Vie En Rose
9. The Great Debaters
10. Into the Wild
And here’s what he says about La Vie en Rose:
A virtuoso performance by Marion Cotillard as the beloved “Little Sparrow,” the legendary singer closest to the hearts of the French. Raised in a brothel and then the “property” of a gangster, she was only 4’8” tall, but had a voice that filled the city. Cotillard portrays her rising from the gutters to international stardom, and then dying of an overdose at 47. The title refers to her most famous song, about life through rose-colored glasses. The film ends with “Non, je ne regrette rien” (“No, I regret nothing”). The period is vividly re-created by director Olivier Dahan. One of the greatest of musical biopics.
Marion Cotillard's Road to Oscar 