Olivier Dahan Movies

Writer/director Olivier Dahan (Crimson Rivers II) helmed La Vie en Rose, the screen biopic of tragic French songstress Edith Piaf. Marion Cotillard portrays Piaf, the superstar once raised as a young girl by her grandmother in a Normandy bordello, then discovered on a French street corner -- as a complete unknown -- by cabaret proprietor Louis Leplée (Gérard Depardieu). The film segues breezily between various episodes from Piaf's life -- such as her lover, French boxer Marcel Cerdan's (Jean-Pierre Martins) championship bout in mid-'40s New York; her period in Hollywood during the '50s; Piaf's abandonment as a young girl by her contortionist father (and earlier by her mother, a street singer); her brushes with the law as an adult; and her 1951 car accident and subsequent morphine addiction that caused her to age well beyond her years and left her barely mobile; and, through it all, her ability (like Billie Holiday) to funnel personal tragedy and emotional struggles into her vocalizations -- dazzling audiences in the process. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Sylvia (Isabelle Huppert) is a 40-year-old prostitute who works on the streets in Nice. Her teenage daughter Laurence (Maud Forget), whom she had abandoned years before, visits her apartment unexpectedly while Sylvia is being beaten by two thugs. One of the thugs is killed in the resulting melee, and the two women flee to the French countryside. Sylvia tries to find her ex-husband with whom she had a son, and her daughter tries to connect with her despite Sylvia's reluctance. They meet the mysterious fugitive Joshua (Pascal Greggory) who joins them. Meanwhile, Sylvia confronts her troubled past and tries to make sense of her life. ~ Todd Kristel, All Movie Guide

With echoes of Rebel Without a Cause, Boogie Nights and Less Than Zero, this French drama keeps pace with some fast-moving 20-year-olds, as seen from the point of view of ambitious Laure (Zoe Felix). She narrates as the film flashes back to a period spanning April 20 to July 14. Go-Karter Andrea (Clement Sibony) learns that rich dudes David (Benoit Magimel) and Romain (Romain Duris) are launching a Nice photo agency, so he approaches Laure, a topless model interested in "moving up" in the world of porn. Andrea and Laure move into David's enormous family mansion, a hedonistic heaven replete with drugs, swimming pool, sports cars, and much promise. Soon Laure gets an intro to international porn kingpin Mallo (Carlo Brandt) who demands a hardcore audition. As the drugs and guns pile up, it's not long before the steamy becomes seamy. Source music includes Nina Simone's "Take Care of Business." ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide