La Vie en Rose Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

La Vie en Rose Blu-ray Movie Review

From the streets to the suites.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III October 17, 2025

The well-deserved winner of two Oscars for Best Actress and Best Makeup, Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose dramatizes the turbulent life and career of massively popular French singer Édith Piaf. Told in a largely effective non-linear style, it recounts pivotal moments during several decades marked by extreme tragedy and triumph that can be easily heard in her vast body of music. The lead role is totally inhabited by Marion Cotillard, who underwent a striking transformation to portray the young adult and middle-aged (but much older looking) Piaf which included hours upon hours of makeup application, shaved eyebrows, and even varying amounts of body contortion to appropriate "The Little Sparrow" and her diminutive height of 4'10". With a bold story that builds to an unforgettable ending, La Vie en Rose has amassed quite a following since 2007 but was sadly marginalized on home video in America, only earing a meager DVD release from HBO that year while other countries, including its native France, awarded it a full Blu-ray edition.

For a full synopsis and glowing appreciation of the film, please see the link above which points to TF1 Vidéo's Blu-ray reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov all the way back in 2007. I'm in agreement that La Vie en Rose is a standout drama with very high artistic merits and an uncompromising tone, which makes it all the more disappointing that it's taken so long to reach Blu-ray on this side of the pond (but to be fair, that French Blu-ray is indeed region-free). Luckily for American fans unwilling or unable to import it, Warner Archive has finally stepped up to deliver this domestic HD upgrade on a dual-layered disc that will hopefully find its way into the hands of established fans and curious newcomers.

NOTE: Like the earlier Region 1 DVD, Warner Archive's Blu-ray is labeled as an "Extended Edition"; both preserve roughly four minutes of content cut for its US theatrical run, so it's really just the "original edition".

La Vie en Rose Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

A unique visual product of its time, La Vie en Rose was reportedly originally mastered in the digital format known as HDCAM SR, a then-common high-resolution process commonly used for HD television production. Featuring striking colors and deep, inky blacks, it's a perfect complement to the film's typically bleak tone, so it's no surprise that this 2K master has been used for all available DVD and Blu-ray home video releases to the best of my knowledge.

Those who directly compare this newer disc to TF1 Vidéo's 2007 Blu-ray (review linked above) will find, however, that there are a few subtle differences despite the identical source master used. I've even attempted to match a handful of screenshots from that version, which proved almost impossible given La Vie en Rose's occasionally unsteady hand-held cinematography. In short, Warner Archive's disc looks a bit more natural to my eyes, slightly darker on the whole with less of a yellow push and black levels that don't feel as consistently heightened -- perhaps the older disc was boosted? I've also been informed that a certain amount of additional cleanup work as performed by Warner Archive; since I don't have the French Blu-ray in my collection I can't comment as to the extent of it, but can safely say that this disc looks spotless. In any case, these visual differences are not massive and thus won't drastically change your perception of La Vie en Rose one way or another (some fans may not even notice at all), as both are very capable presentations in their own right. Again speaking to just this newer release's merits, the film runs at a high and supportive bit rate from start to finish, with only small amounts of presumably baked-in black crush rearing its head on a few occasions.

La Vie en Rose Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, Warner Archive's DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track likely offers presumed improvements over TF1 Vidéo's 2007 Blu-ray and its DTS-HD 5.1 HR mix, if only because it's lossless. (Results will obviously vary depending on the capability of your system.) Needless to say, this is a full-bodied presentation with wonderful ambiance and a huge presence for the music performances, crisp dialogue, and organic use of the surround channels when needed.

La Vie en Rose is presented entirely in its original French with two optional sets of English subtitles: one for translation purposes only (default), and a second SDH track for deaf and hearing impaired viewers.

La Vie en Rose Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with familiar poster-themed cover artwork and a few carryover extras.

• Stepping Into Character (7:18) - This brief DVD-era promotional featurette includes interview clips with director Olivier Dahan and actor Marion Cotillard; both share their thoughts about Édith Piaf's life and how they approached the material for the film, and there are also a few glimpses of the extraordinary makeup process which earned the film one of its two Oscars. It's in French but paired with forced English subtitles.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:04) - This domestic promotional piece can also be seen here; it features French dialogue from the film and is paired with forced English subtitles as well as English voice- over narration.

• Song Selection - Instant access to the film's 14 main performances and music cues including "Heaven Have Mercy", "Mon Homme", "La Vie en Rose", "Mon Menage A Moi", and of course "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien".

La Vie en Rose Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Olivier Dahan's La Vie en Rose dramatizes the turbulent life and career of Édith Piaf. It earned well-deserved Oscars directly related to star Marion Cotillard and her portrayal of the massively popular French singer, and quite honestly should've at least been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film that year as well. Despite the film's artistic merits and growing legacy, this long-overdue Blu-ray edition from Warner Archive arrives a full 18 years after its home video debut on DVD. Although it's only similar to (if not slightly better than) earlier Blu-rays from an A/V standpoint and the extras are fairly limited, this one's well worth owning if you don't have it yet. Firmly Recommended.