So I had kinda wanted to see this movie since Marion Cotillard won the Academy Award for best actress and it was a foreign language film which is just so rare. I had been putting it off however because it looked depressing and I wasn’t sure if I’d really be able to get into the movie. I decided to watch it now after seeing Cotillard in Love Me If You Dare which made me an even bigger fan of hers. After seeing this movie, I’m just amazed at her ability and I think she actually surpasses some of my favorites of all time.
The movie is a bio-pic of the iconic French singer, Edit Piaf. If you haven’t heard of her as an American, don’t worry because you have heard her most famous song, aptly named ‘La Vie en Rose’ even if you think you haven’t heard it. She became a national figure for France and was such a revered singer, even now. She really rose from the bottom and worked hard for what she achieved and used her divine talent to bring harmony to an entire nation.
The plot weaves nicely throughout all periods of her life, instead of some bio-pics which center on one or two periods of a person’s life. This story was really great and captured her essence and we really watched her develop on screen. The plot brings together key moments in her life as well as character development which is just great so that we’re not just given a factual account of her life and also not exclusively character building pre-fame.
The movie was filmed beautifully and the set decoration was amazing. It really captured all locations and eras which were depicted in the movie. The other Academy Award that it received was for make-up and I’ll say the Academy really got it right with that one. It is just breathtaking how they transformed Cotillard into Piaf. You really don’t see the actress at all, it’s truly Edith Piaf singing and acting in the movie. Sometimes when young actors are put in old makeup it doesn’t work, and most often that is the case. The older Piaf makeup was just amazing and truly innovative.
That brings us to the performance. Cotillard really give the performance of a life time. I don’t think there will be anyone who would disagree. It’s amazing the ability she has. She really became this person and devoted herself to this role. She sat in makeup for over five hours per day. She shaved off her eyebrows to resemble the singer more. She was perfectly in synch with all of the songs sung in the movie, and there was a lot. It’s also amazing how this beautiful and young actress can become this other person who has a completely different persona and looks about her. I could write an entirely separate review on this performance alone. It’s also nice to see such great acting in a role like this instead of roles in the past where the actresses must ‘go ugly’ and deal with taboo subject matter in order to be commended for their work. Oh yeah, the other actors in the movie did a great job as well.
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