Monday, July 23, 2007

Non, je ne regrette rien!

Roman Miscellany posts about going to see the film, La Vie en Rose, which is about famed French singer Édith Piaf:
The heroine, Piaf, is not the most attractive of characters - proud, obstinate and leading a life that caused the Archbishop of Paris to refuse her a Catholic funeral. However, her childlike piety also comes across very strongly. She refuses to go on stage at the Paris Olympia without wearing her crucifix and she is often shown praying before a performance.

Rather unexpectedly, St Therese of Lisieux has a constant and unseen presence in the film. As a child Piaf suffered from blindness (a result, it seems,of keratitis). The kindly prostitutes who cared for her arranged for Piaf to visit the saint's tomb to pray for a recovery. Shortly afterwards she could see again. The saint's influence continued in Piaf's life until the very end, making La Vie en Rose a powerful essay on the efficacy of prayer.
RM also links to a YouTube featuring one of Piaf's most celebrated songs:
Believe it or not, I studied this song in a French Phonetics and Phonology course I took back at the university, because of Piaf's use of very distinct and prominent nasal vowels.

Thanks to Tea at Trianon for the link.

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