Deconstructing Edith Piaf

Rating: 9/10 (25 April 2011)

This is the story of Edith Piaf, icon and legend of the French music who immortalized many songs including the famous song La Vie en Rose. However, Piaf's life was a life full of tragedy, loss and excesses that eventually consumed her when she was only 48 years old.
This is how the French director Olivier Dahan takes us into the world of Piaf from its origins in the slums of Paris, her rise to fame under the nickname of "Little Sparrow" and her debacle due to illness and addictions. All this under the optics of the biopic but with a very unconventional twist having a non-linear structure, which gives the movie a different dynamic (although this might be confusing for some viewers).
However, the real driving force and soul of the film is Marion Cotillard's monumental Oscar-winning performance, who unlike other performances based on real characters, it transcends the mere act of imitation and becomes Edith Piaf delivering the portrait of a woman who despite her physical and personal tragedies became the inspiration for thousands of people through her voice and singing. And by the way she gives us one of the most spectacular and powerful performances in recent years.
In addition, the extraordinary work of characterization (especially in the last years of life of Piaf) and the production values ​​(art direction, costume design, the use of Piaf's songs) give more credibility to the magnificent incarnation (or reincarnation?) of Edith Piaf in a film that easily could become another lifeless biopic