Main Cast: Simone Signoret, Claude Dauphin, Sammy Ben Youb, Gabriel Jabbour, Michael Bat-Adam
Release Year: 1977
Country: FR
Run Time: 105 minutes
Plot
Madame Rosa (Simone Signoret) is an aging former prostitute who, in her dotage, makes a living by caring for the children of other prostitutes in Paris' Arab community. Haunted by memories of her experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, Rosa is seized with the notion that the Gestapo is still after her. She thus begs one of her young charges (Samy Ben Youb) not to give away her "hiding place." Madame Rosa was based on Momo, a novel by one Emile Ajar (better known as Romaine Gary). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Better known by its English title Madame Rosa, La Vie Devant Soi captured the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and was justly praised as a showcase for Simone Signoret's marvelous performance. In truth, it is Signoret who deserved an Oscar rather than the film. That's not to say that Vie is bad; it's an appealing, heartfelt, warm picture. But the film as a whole is only good; Signoret is sensational. Totally unafraid to look worn out and worn down, the actress shows us a woman who has weathered tremendous crises in her life, who has been through horrors that have battered but, thanks to her strength of spirit, not beaten her. Her eyes sunken, her jaw moving as if there is pain involved in speaking, Signoret paints a picture of life lived despite obstacles that could destroy a lesser soul. She brings both a power and a vulnerability top her portrayal, and her instincts are dead-on in every frame. She is ably supported by Sammy Ben Youb, a juvenile giving a beautifully calibrated performance that gives her plenty to play off of. Vie's screenplay gets a bit manipulative, and the implied analogy between Rosa's world and that of the Middle East doesn't wash, as it reduces the enormous complexity of that political situation to a well-meaning "people must learn to get along." But Moshe Mizrahi's direction is simple and fairly restrained, wisely letting the actors carry the show to good effect. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
