Biography of French singer Edith Piaf (Cotillard). Neglected by her mother, Edith is brought up by her grandmother and then by her father, a travelling acrobat. The street singer is discovered and rises to fame, determined to work even when dying. Read more
| Starring | Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner |
|---|---|
| Director | Olivier Dahan |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
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Biography of French singer Edith Piaf (Cotillard). Neglected by her mother, Edith is brought up by her grandmother and then by her father, a travelling acrobat. The street singer is discovered and rises to fame, determined to work even when dying.
| Starring | Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Paul Rouve, Gerard Depardieu, Clotilde Courau, Jean-Pierre Martins |
|---|---|
| Director | Olivier Dahan |
| Studio | ICON HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 2 hrs 14 mins Blu-ray: 2 hrs 21 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama, World Cinema |
| Language | DVD: French Blu-ray: French |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: English Blu-ray: English |
| Released | DVD: 26 Nov 2007 Blu-ray: 01 Dec 2008 Production year: 2007 |
| Format | DVD |
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A five hankie biopic of Edith Piaf's tortured life featuring a spellbinding performance from Marion Cottilard as 'The Little Sparrow' EP.Never have I seen any actor so convincingly age 35 years, - (the film covers the years 1918-1963) - or so during a film.The film is not told chronologically, so for example, one moment you'll see Edith at her glowing happy zenith, when she is romancing heavyweight champion Marcel Cerdan and the next you'll see her bent double ravaged by debilitating illness in her final years. This is not just excellent make-up but an unequalled display of bravura acting skill. Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash,JamieFoxx as Ray Charles and Denzell as Malcolm X, all put in fine turns in recent biopics but this is something else-Cottilard IS Piaf. The two girls acting young Edith are also good,as is all the cast including a nice cameo as her kind-hearted manager from Gerard Depardieu.The stirring all-important music, (including a lovely acapella 'Marseillais') is magnificent throughout - having not been to a cinema for a long time,I was impressed with the top surround-sound you get there,far better than from DVDs at home.At one point there is a bone-shaking car crash where the noise is so visceral,I checked my legs to see if they were still there.One quibble would be that some of Piaf's more famous tunes did not feature subtitles.Another is that the film is maybe 20 minutes too long,-it could easily have finished after an affectingly staged death of a leading character and then there is a rather tacked-on bit where we belatedly discover that Edith revisited the sins done to her by her mother on a child of her own. Minor weaknesses however;if you don't cry and feel uplifted by this film,you have no soul.
I loved this fim, Gritty, sad, at times funny, very poignant moments of her short life, so talented.