Although it’s not brilliant or spectacular, The New Look is a good series. Maybe if the production investment was greater and the street sequences weren’t obviously from the studio, with weak extras, it would involve us more. Still, I see quality.

In the final stretch of the series, still clinging to the hope of seeing his sister, Catherine (Maisie Williams), Christian Dior (Ben Mendelsohn) is smiling again, keeping hope. As in previous episodes, famous characters of the time circulate on the screen, in this case, Edith Piaf, singing her “new” song: La Vie En Rose, which is perfect for the episode.

The waltz that rocks hearts in love

The honeyed waltz of La Vie En Rose is easy to fix in our memory and it accurately conveys a feeling of being in love, of seeing everything in pink… like the sky in Paris. In that period, in the first years after four years of war, the destruction was visible in the streets and in the people, anything that relieved them of the pain was welcome.

Composed by Louis Guglielmi, Piaf herself wrote part of the lyrics and unsurprisingly the song became one of her signatures, quickly becoming a worldwide hit. As the title says – life is pink – it’s really about starting to see the devastating scenario with the desire to rescue happiness.

A desperate song that became an anthem

La Vie En Rose was written in 1943 but was only released as a single in 1947, quickly becoming one of the best sellers of the time. Before that, in 1945, legend has it that Piaf was with her friend, Marianne Michel, on the terrace of a café in Paris and Marianne asked the singer for help finishing a lyric, Piaf then wrote most of what we know today. like music. Interestingly, Marianne was the first to sing and record the initial version, but no one at the time thought it would be a success, even telling the singer that it was the weakest in her repertoire.

Everything changed when Piaf herself revisited the song, in 1946, after putting the song aside for some time. Clearly, she knew there was something special about her. In 1946, in the version we know today, she sang La Vie en Rose live for the first time, as The New Look shows. And from then on, la Mômme went from being just a French star to becoming one of the most beloved singers around the world.

English version, recorded on film as well

As she did with some of her songs, Piaf recorded an English version of the song and entered the American market, selling more than a million copies. Talking about the joy of finding true love was a call she resonated with survivors of the Second World War, including returning to seeing life in a more positive light.

In 1948, Piaf sang the song in the French film, Neuf garçons, un cœur, and, from then on, several singers covered the song, either in the official French version or in the English version, including Nick Cave, whose version closes the episode.

In The New Look, not everything is rosy yet

In yet another episode that highlights the sweetness of Dior’s personality in contrast to the apparently clumsy and disastrous decisions of Coco Chanel (Juliette Binoche), in a mirror that is not sympathetic to the designer, struggling with the fears and consequences of her choices during the War.

As we see, Chanel – like Dior – chose to take risks to save her nephew’s life, and, in addition, resolve the serious problems she had with her partners, who were Jews and fled to the United States.

The New Look does not delve into the exact creative or financial conflicts that placed her in the litigation scenario, highlighting that all of her choices were impetuous and thoughtless (to a certain extent). This is needed because Binoche’s Chanel is almost comical in her despair, she is petty, self-centered and somewhat misunderstood. Just as Pierre Balmain seems an extreme man, Pierre Cardin is a clown, only Christian Dior is sensitive, loyal, and talented. If at first, it wasn’t bothersome, now it’s getting a bit tiring.

Likewise, the tension between Dior and his boss, Lucien Lelong (John Malkovich) made it unclear how he progressed to the moment in which they would break up. Lelong has always depended on designers to have his brand, Balmain left to have his own signature and when we see Dior do the same, it becomes a bit gray. But, as we know, the series is not about that.

The exciting reunion and the ‘new look’ parade will only come next week. Does it excite more?

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