Sometimes something hits you over the head when you least expect it. I was about an hour into a French film Jeux d'enfants when I realized the comely Marion Cotillard starring in the film bore remarkable resemblance to my sister. Seriously, they could be twins, Marion the dark haired yang, and my sister with bewitching hazel eyes and blond hair is the yin. They were born almost exactly a year apart, which is a funny coincidence, I think. Anyhoo. Pretty women- ya gotta love 'em!

I've been planning to start going to see art house films more often, and Sunday night I finally managed to do so.

I saw La Vie en Rose which is a Cliff Notes sort of version of the life of Edith Piaf. Piaf was no great beauty, but she looked passably pretty when she was younger. Makeup for this film had rather a tough row to hoe with the surpassingly lovely Marion Cotillard as Piaf. Her facial expressions were spot-on, and it was heart-breaking how you could see in her eyes how desperately she clung to her rare and pitiful scraps of happiness, never fully believing her luck had changed.

Of course, as with any biopic, no doubt liberties were taken with the story. I certainly hope her life wasn't that tragic. I blubbered (ok, not boo-hooed, but streaming tears) in about 5 places in the film. After her final note of "Non, rien de rien" (I regret nothing) the film went black and silent, and a woman a couple rows back blew a kleenex with a honk that was remarkably kazoo-like. This broke the tension and everyone laughed. That was acutally quite nice, although I'm sure the woman will never overcome the shame of it all.

Stunning film.
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Yeah, I'm loving me some you-tube.

Oh, THAT's why we always thought Eva Gabor was classier than Zsa Zsa: