We saw the movie, "La Vie En Rose," which is about the life of French singer Edith Piaf.
Generally I find movies about entertainers predictable, because it usually traces the rise of the performer and it's always cliched with the standard divorce and drug addiction. But this movie feels different, no doubt because the setting is France. It's non-linear, flipping back and forth in time, and the performance of the actress Marion Collard was spectacular. By the end of the movie, the audience was in tears.
Edith Piaf grew up dirt-poor in France. Her father was in the military when she was little and the mother abandoned her with the grandmother so she could pursue her singing career, which went nowhere. The maternal grandmother didn't take care of Edith. When the father had a furlough, he found Edith sickly and unkempt; he brought her to his own mother who ran a brothel. The women in the brothel, especially one in particular, took care of Edith. When the father returned, he took Edith away from the brothel and brought her to the circus where he was a contortionist. The father had a disagreement with the circus owner and he and Edith left. It was while they were begging in the streets of Paris when the father forced Edith to sing. It turned out the 9-year old could sing, and she continued singing in the streets of Paris for money. She had a break when a cabaret owner offered her the chance to sing in his cabaret; he was the one who named her "The Sparrow." She later found another mentor who trained her to perform for the music hall. From then on, it was history, with Edith performing not just in Paris, but in New York.
Despite this success, the hungry, frightened, abandoned little girl was always there. She seemed always looking for approval, for love, and performing meant everything to her. Her life was one of loss. She was rejected by her mother; she lost the woman in the brothel who took care of her; she lost the cabaret owner who gave her her first big break; she lost her lover when he died in a plane crash.
She was also a lush, just like her mother whom she despised, Later on Edith became addicted to stronger drugs. She was a broken person by the time she was in her 40s and died when she was only 47.
Here are some thoughts about this movie:
- There is something touching about a broken person, and it was really Edith's brokenness that won me, more than anything else. I was curious about a person who was a basket case, but who had tremendous talented. She didn't seem to be a nice person: when she was famous, she was bossy, and always drunk. But there was always that little girl that stared at the audience after a performance, looking for approval.
- I also wondered about artists who self-destruct. They can be so talented and have so much, and yet, remain quite unhappy.
I also thought about how God dispenses with His gifts liberally - you never know whom God will touch with His gifts.
- Another thought that came to me is that when people have gifts from God, they need to use this for other people, instead of getting caught up in the glamour of things and become greedy for more attention. Things have to be kept in perspective: God is the source of this gift, and this gift must be shared with others. The gift should not be for the person's greater glory, but for God's greater glory.
- Ultimately, a gift from God is also a responsibility.
- Still another thought: it is important always to add spirituality to one's life, whether one is famous or not. Being grounded in God will help people in their journey, whatever it may be.
About the movie "La Vie en Rose" - I highly recommend it.
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More Information re Edith Piaf:
Born: December 15, 1915 in Paris, France
Years Active: 30 's, 40 's, 50 's, 60 's
Died: October 11, 1963 in Paris, France
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Photo: Album cover of Edith Piaf
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