La Vie en Rose

Sabin
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Post by Sabin »

Cotillard >>> Winslet.

IMHO, the Best Actress winners this decade who succeeded in creating cohesive characters were Julia Roberts, Hilary Swank, Reese Witherspoon, Helen Mirren, and to an extent Charlize Theron. Now, I wouldn't put any of these performances in the canon of great movie acting by any shakes but at the very least, they made choices that created an inner-world and did not deviate. It's not entirely Cotillard's fault that her performance is all over the place especially considering how admirable a lot of it is.

I'm not as big a fan of Page as I am of Christie and especially Linney, whose poor showing in the awards season had me at something of a loss. This is a great role that she does a fine job with and when I saw an early screening of it, I thought she would have positioned herself as a dark horse.
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Post by ITALIANO »

Sabin wrote:That being said: Christie wuz robbed. Linney wuz robbed. Page wuz robbed.
I'm not so sure that Page was robbed. And anyway when I think of some recent winners in this category (including, let's face it, the most recent), I don't think that Cotillard was such an embarassing choice.

But I agree with what you wrote on the movie itself.
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Post by Sabin »

Really didn't want to trudge through this movie. And yet here we are...

The performance is as cohesive as the film. The director is like an even more manic Scorsese in his devotion to the technicalities of the scene in lieu of the whole. I. Did. Not. Care. And in a film about a gorgeous voice, wanting the lead character to shut up is a problem. Even more problematic? In a film where the backdrop is gorgeous France, wanting to leave is a huge problem. The film is a free association chore held together by moments of astonishment undercut at times another scene later. The much heralded scene where Marcel "dies" is undercut by the following scene where Cotillard cuts off her hair, wailing to the Saints.

It's not that Cotillard is bad or unconvincing. Or even that her makeup does the acting for her. It's that the director in his infinite wisdom guided her into a Monster Movie performance. She's a creature, not a person. Unfortunately, the movie doesn't begin to know what to do with it. This is a clearly a ridiculously talented actress whom hopefully we will see more from in the years to come.

That being said: Christie wuz robbed. Linney wuz robbed. Page wuz robbed. (will never watch another installment in the Elizabeth saga again. woof.)




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Post by Big Magilla »

--ITALIANO wrote:
--cam wrote:Maybe it will be like Jose Ferrer in the original Moulin Rouge. I remember as a kid marvelling that he was able to move around on his knees, and how it must have hurt. He did not get nominated, though.

I think he was.

He did indeed.




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Post by ITALIANO »

--The Original BJ wrote:I felt lonely for a while, but now with Mister Tee and Damien chiming in, I feel relieved to know I'm not the only person who doesn't think Cotillard is the bee's knees.

Yes, you are in good company. Anyway, the movie has other, much worse problems.




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Post by The Original BJ »

Mister Tee wrote:And can we agree the film's absolute nadir was the 11th hour introduction of the dead child?
Absolutely. What a horrid, horrid moment -- I cannot fathom how anyone thought it was a good idea to withhold this information from us, then suddenly reveal it at the last moment.

I felt lonely for a while, but now with Mister Tee and Damien chiming in, I feel relieved to know I'm not the only person who doesn't think Cotillard is the bee's knees.
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Post by ITALIANO »

--cam wrote:Maybe it will be like Jose Ferrer in the original Moulin Rouge. I remember as a kid marvelling that he was able to move around on his knees, and how it must have hurt. He did not get nominated, though.

I think he was.




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Post by OscarGuy »

I would never bash Christie's performance for Cotillard's. I think they're both impressive in completely different roles. One has forgotten herself and the other remembers herself quite well.

I don't know who I'd pick to win, though I lean towards the more quiet demise of Christie's character than Cotillard, but they really cannot be compared as they are not in the same style. It is really like comparing apples and oranges.
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Post by Mister Tee »

I guess I could discuss this film in any number of threads, with the Cotillard debate raging everwhere, but I'll stick to home base.

Like everyone has said, the film's an undistinguished mess. It has us all the over-familiarity of the standard show biz bio, and is poorly made besides. I don't know what the director or writer had in mind with the time scheme, but starting in 1959 and then jumping around haphazardly from '60 to '63 in the framing sections made it all feel arbitrarily patterned (editing by Jackson Pollock). I didn't feel like the "present day" stuff built to any discernible climax, nor did it offer any pithy contrast to the flashback scenes. And some elements in the plot were murkily conveyed -- I presume I got what Depardieu's death was about (Edith had been working for mobsters, and they shot Depardieu for taking away their meal ticket?), but it's not like the film helped me much in grasping it.

And can we agree the film's absolute nadir was the 11th hour introduction of the dead child? When you hear the name Marcelle, you naturally assume she was left knocked up when Cerdan was killed -- but, no, this was years earlier, with a character we never met...and it really doesn't matter, because the subject is dropped as quickly as it was raised. What's it there for? Piaf's declining health wasn't enough of a bummer, we needed to add this?

The only reason for the film is of course the Cotillard performance, and I fall somewhere in the middle on this. Scene to scene, she's impressive -- how could she not be? She's playing Edith Piaf, for Christ's sake -- she gets to jump around being The Life Force for an hour and a half, then she gets to die at a tragically young age (To become immortal and then to die, as the phrase goes). Isn't it clear any actress who gets to play such part is going to wow much of the audience, almost irrespective of overall talent? (Where have you gone, Jane Lapotaire?)

But she doesn't pull it together in any new, dynamic way that I can see -- she doesn't provide more than was in the part (as, I would argue, Witherspoon managed, in her smaller Walk the Line role). She's firmly in the tradition of the many actors, mostly female, who've been nominated for just such roles over the years -- starting with Hayward, certainly, but including Streisand, Diana Ross, Jessica Lange, Angela Bassett, on and on (someone should do the research and find out just how many there've been; it seems like 100). The story's just about a genre in itself: little scrapper rises to show biz fame while contending with romantic and/or substance problems (a friend of mine calls these films, generically, Lady Drinks the Booze).

I can see liking Cotillard's work, wanting her to be nominated. But the number of people who consider it transcendent, one-of-the-great-performances-in-a-lifetime work (especially over at Awards Daily, where they've disgracefully crossed the line into trashing Julie Christie over her critics' wins) baffles me. I can only assume these people just haven't seen that many movies.
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Post by cam »

Maybe it will be like Jose Ferrer in the original Moulin Rouge. I remember as a kid marvelling that he was able to move around on his knees, and how it must have hurt. He did not get nominated, though.
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Post by Big Magilla »

--Damien wrote:
--The Original BJ wrote:I clearly seem to be in the minority re: Cotillard. Maybe I'll have to see the film again to see if I missed something big time.

I'm with you, BJ. Cottilard is perfectly fine within each (sometimes ferocious) scene, but she doesn’t construct a complete human being within the film. In her acting there is no continuum from the early Piaf to the older, and the performance is ultimately as incoherent as the movie itself.

It's essentially the make up that creates the character.

Make it three. I wasn't terribly impressed either, though the makeup is outstanding.

A nomination, ok, but I don't see a win and continue to be flustered by all the bloggers who think she will.




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Post by Damien »

--The Original BJ wrote:I clearly seem to be in the minority re: Cotillard. Maybe I'll have to see the film again to see if I missed something big time.

I'm with you, BJ. Cottilard is perfectly fine within each (sometimes ferocious) scene, but she doesn’t construct a complete human being within the film. In her acting there is no continuum from the early Piaf to the older, and the performance is ultimately as incoherent as the movie itself.

It's essentially the make up that creates the character.




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Post by cam »

I agree. Cotillard really made the film, and without her, the film would have have been no better than ordinary. But lots of ordinary-- even BAD-- films have won Oscars for their leads: Think of Training Day( without Washington) or Three Faces Of Eve (without Woodword). There are dozens of examples.
She will get a nomination if there is any God.
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Post by OscarGuy »

What a beautiful performance. Marion Cotillard is absolutely spectacular. She blended marvelously into the role and if it weren't for her, I don't know what I'd think of the film. It was scattered for sure. I was lost most of the time even with the date stamps. I still enjoyed the film and it's all thanks to Cotillard.

Let me also say that Gerard Depardieu was quite good in his VERY short role. And "Je ne regrette rien" is a beautiful song and when put into context as it was, I couldn't help myself but cry for the incredibly sad, yet wonderful life of a truly talented singer.
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Post by The Original BJ »

I clearly seem to be in the minority re: Cotillard. Maybe I'll have to see the film again to see if I missed something big time.
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