Great singer or decrepit alcoholic? Movie does not paint a flattering picture

Rating: 6/10 (26 April 2007)

I was not very happy with this movie as I was watching it. However, I admit the final scene worked well. I did get the emotional surge from the song at the end, and realized that the entire movie was a set-up for that moment; that they used that song to portray her life through.
Still, this only raised my rating from a 5 to a 6. I have many problems with the movie. Firstly, why was Piaf made up to look like a clown? Yes, a clown. Big (fake-looking) white forehead, big red lips, and in at least one scene a white jacket with big white buttons! Did the historical Piaf actually strive to look clownish? Or was this the film-makers' idea? Or didn't they even realize they were doing it? I'm confused. In any case, I found it unfortunate. Secondly, far too much of the movie was about the last and very health-deteriorated part of her life. Where's the point in that?? We want to see her prime! See her at her best! I can't for the life of me see how this movie is much of a homage to Piaf. Why show all her human failings that she has in common with half of mankind? We want to see what was SPECIAL about her!!
The movie seemed to me to be more interested in being educational than entertaining, and I did not agree with that. The narrative structure attempted to be smart and innovative, but I thought it was mostly just messy. At the end we suddenly have a dead child and an unknown extra husband thrust into it. And throughout the movie there were details that were never explained. Who was that song-pimp she worked for? How did she get involved with him, and how did she finally get free of him? No explanation.
My main gripe with the movie, though, is Marion Cotillard. I am a huge fan of her. She is easily one of the most beautiful actresses in France. I went to see the movie because of her. And what do they do? They make her ugly! Hunched over, big over-bite with rabbit teeth, decrepit and old for huge stretches of the movie! I mean, I know they needed to have the main character actually look somewhat like the historical Piaf, but, newsflash: then they should have picked an actress who in fact looked the part!! Ruining the gorgeous Cotillard for this role is a mistake of epochal proportions. No offense to Marion, who pulled out all the stops in terms of acting, which I commend her for, but I don't think she should have played this part. It seems to me that the film-makers wanted to do like the Americans and have some actress change her appearance radically (like Nicole Kidman for The Hours, or Charlize Theron for Monster), and garner huge applause for it like Anthony Hopkins in Nixon and such. Well, I guess Marion pulled it off, but at the cost of destroying most of what was appealing about her to begin with. Something like that I cannot applaud. Not with her. I just can't.