SALUTE: Marion Cotillard's Oscar-winning Portrayal of Music Great, Edith Piaf
French actress Marion Cotillard portrayed French music star Edith Piaf in the 2007 biopic of Piaf's life, 'La Vie en rose.'
La Vie en rose (French pronunciation: [la vi ɑ̃ ʁoz], literally Life in Pink; released in France as La Môme, referring to Piaf's nickname "La Môme Piaf", (meaning "baby sparrow, birdie, little sparrow") is a 2007 French biographical filmabout the life of French singer Édith Piaf co-written, and directed by Olivier Dahan. Marion Cotillard stars as Piaf. The title La Vie en Rose comes from Piaf's signature song.
Marion Cotillard won numerous coveted acting awards that year for her performance, including the Academy Award, the BAFTA, the César Award, and the Golden Globe. She also made history by being the first actress to win the Oscar for Best Actress in a French-language performance.
Marion Cotillard (born September 30th, 1975) is a French actress. She garnered critical acclaim for her roles in films such as La Vie en Rose, Rust and Bone, A Very Long Engagement, My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument, Taxi, Furia and Jeux d'enfants. She has also appeared in such films as Big Fish, A Good Year, Public Enemies, Nine, Inception, Midnight in Paris, Contagion andThe Dark Knight Rises.
Her turn as French singer Edith Piaf was particularly awe-inspiring. Édith Piaf (born December 19th, 1915 – died October 11th, 1963), born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer who became widely regarded as France's national popular singer, as well as being one of France's greatest international stars.
I want to share two of my favorite moments from the film, 'La Vie en rose.' Two moments in which I feel Cotillard delivered a fabulous performance...a performance that warranted her all the acclaim she got, and all the awards she won.
First, the final moment of the film, where Edith sings her hit 'Non, je ne regrette rien' to a packed theater. Marion's body language as Edith is divine! She completely became Madame Piaf.
And then, this bone-chilling scene in which Edith is informed of Marcel's death.
The love of Piaf's life, the married boxer Marcel Cerdan, died in a plane crash in October 1949, while flying from Paris to New York City to meet her. Cerdan's Air France flight, flown on a Lockheed Constellation, crashed in the Azores, killing everyone on board, including noted violinist Ginette Neveu. Piaf and Cerdan's affair made international headlines, as Cerdan was the former middleweight world champion and a legend in France in his own right.
Edith Piaf
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Marion Cotillard is a fabulous actress, and I am always moved by her work.
Look for her next in the projects The Immigrant by James Gray, Blood Ties by Guillaume Canet (starring Clive Owen and Matthias Schoenaerts) and "Two Days, One Night" (or "Deux jours, une nuit.") by the Dardenne brothers.