The French, or those non-French who grew up in the '40s and '50s, may know who and how big a French chanteuse Edith Piaf was. Even for those of us who are not familiar with her, her life story is a fascinating cautionary tale of love, dreams, excesses and tragedies.
Edith Gassion (Marion Cotillard) is a poor child living on the streets of Paris. Her father, Louis (Jean-Paul Rouve), takes her away from her irresponsible mother and places her with his mother, who is a madam of a brothel. Kind prostitute Titine (Emmanuelle Seigner) quickly becomes Edith's surrogate mother, until Louis returns from WWI and takes Edith with him as he finds work in the circus as a contortionist.
Soon Louis and Edith become street performers to make a living. That's when Edith realizes she is a natural singer. Years later, while hustling on the street with her best friend Momone (Sylvie Testud), Edith is discovered by cabaret entrepreneur Louis Leplee (Gerard Depardieu), who wants to mold her into a cabaret star. He changes her name to Edith Piaf and introduces her to his entertainment friends. One of these friends, Raymond Asso (Marc Barbe), takes her in after Leplee is murdered. Raymond trains her to become one of France's most celebrated singers.
But nothing is rosy in Edith's turbulent life. Her early drug and alcohol addiction only goes deeper as she finds fame and fortune, which also makes her "difficult" around people who love her, including Momone. She finds true love with married boxer Marcel Cerdan (Jean-Pierre Martins), and that has to be one of happiest times of her life. Her health, however, begins to deteriorate after tragedies strike.
Like Helen Mirren in last year's The Queen, Marion Cotillard (A Good Year) is a revelation. Her tour-de-force performance transforms her to embody the heart and soul of the legendary singer. I hardly even recognize the beauty from A Good Year. Throughout the film, Cotillard ages from age 20 to mid-40s, from a blossoming street singer to a decrepit empty shell whose dyed red hair is falling out. Marion Cotillard is mesmerizing and deserves an Oscar nomination, perhaps even a win.
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