Product Details

• Actors: Vittorio Gassman, Ruggero Raimondi, Geraldine Chaplin, Fanny Ardant, Pierre Arditi
• Directors: Alain Resnais
• Writers: Jean Gruault
• Producers: Philippe Dussart
• Format: Anamorphic, Full Screen, PAL
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 2 (Read more about DVD formats.)
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Studio: mk2
• Run Time: 110 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00007KLA9
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #545,703 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Life Is a Bed of Roses" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

France released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player. You need multi-region PAL/NTSC DVD player to view it in USA/Canada: LANGUAGES: French ( Mono ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Cast/Crew Interview(s), Featurette, Interactive Menu, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Three intertwined tales. On the eve of the First World War, Count Forbek starts to build a fantastic castle in the Ardennes forest. After the war he uses it to start a utopian society by brainwashing his friends, including his former fiancee, Livia, and her husband. In the present day, the castle is being used as an alternative school and, in the summer holidays, for an educational conference. At the conference, the American Nora Winkle bets Claudine that the ernest public school teacher Elisabeth Rousseau will be enticed into the bed of Robert Dufresne, even though the principal speaker, Walter Guarini, is obviously interested in Elisabeth. Meanwhile, the children staying at the castle over the holidays invent their own medieval tale about freeing prisoners from the dungeons. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Ceasar Awards, ...Life Is a Bed of Roses ( La Vie est un roman )

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another difficult but worthwhile Resnais film, March 24, 2008

By 

Tim (TN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life Is a Bed of Roses (La Vie Est Un Roman) (1983) (DVD)

First off, the commonly accepted translation of the title seems to be bad-It should more properly be called Life is a Fairy Tale. This film explores two main themes. The first theme involves the idea that people never really grow up-they continue to be self centered children with unrealistic views of the world. The other theme is that no individual can be happy unless some other individual is miserable. These themes are explored in typical Resnais fashion-which is to say, in a way that is in turns brilliant and confusing. Naturally, the narrative is not straightforward, rather, it is broken into two main threads and a third crucial but brief one.

The most bizarre (and off putting) thing about this film is the singing-occasionally, a character will suddenly begin singing instead of talking. The other characters tend to respond with normal dialogue as if nothing unusual was going on. This lends a sort of surreal feeling to the already odd mood of the film. According to the special features of the DVD of this, Resnais feels that it is easier to move the story along if his characters sing instead of conversing.

I've only seen this film once, but I feel that I should see it again soon. Resnais films always reward multiple viewings and I doubt this is the exception.

1.0 out of 5 stars This film is a piece of crap in a brilliant director's career..., September 22, 2011

By 

A. CHIASSON "AlexC" (Ottawa, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Life Is a Bed of Roses (La Vie Est Un Roman) (1983) (DVD)

It was tacky and irritating... It could have only been done in the early 80s and in France... The only redeeming quality was Fanny Ardant... At that point of her life she was one of the most beautiful & attractive women ever... What was in Resnais' mind?... I watched this the day after I experienced 'Love onto Death' which I thought was a great meditation on life and death... If you want to witness what a medicore foreign film looks like, please download Life is a Bed of Roses... Avoid paying anything (like I did) to get this one...

4 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Immensely disappointing, March 15, 2008

By 

James Tetreault (North Grafton, MA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Life Is a Bed of Roses (La Vie Est Un Roman) (1983) (DVD)

I waited months and months for this to become available. Finally it arrived in the mail. I was ecstatic. And then I played the DVD. I was crestfallen. It barely seemed like the movie about which I'd read. The tone was in some very unsatisfying region between realism and fantasy, never quite enough of one or the other to please. The occasional spurts of ideology were presented as though the author had never encountered anyone of a differing point of view. It seems like an anachronism now.