Excellent performance!

Rating: 9/10 (22 April 2007)

Marion Cotillard is astounding in this film! I am not easy to please as I used to perform as a Piaf impersonator so Piaf's life and music are very close to my heart, but I found Cotillard utterly convincing. She really brings out Piaf's combination of vulnerability and bloody-minded determination as well as her fiery temperament. I spent most of the film in tears, but that's because I'm too soppy for my own good! I knew Piaf's life-story well but I still found the structure of the film and the way it leaps about in time a little confusing. It's true that it was difficult to understand Piaf's relationship with her friends and that Theo Sarapo was left out of the story. Apart from one line when Edith asks for him on her death bed, he doesn't feature, even though as her last husband he looked after her and significantly improved her final years. They even performed duets together eg. 'A quoi ca sert l'amour?' and this was totally left out of the story. There were a lot of scenes of Edith in Grasse looking frail and close to death. Would it have been so difficult to include a scene with Theo? The story about Marcelle seemed like a bit of an afterthought too. To be honest, I would have preferred a more chronological approach to Edith's life but I still thoroughly enjoyed the film and I can't praise Cotillard's performance enough. The other actors were also excellent. Despite by criticisms it is still a must-see!