'C'est parce que j'ai mis des talons'

(left : the genuine Edith Piaf / right : the actress Marion Cotillard)

This week-end, I've seen La Môme. It's a French movie by Olivier Dahan that retraces Edith Piaf's life, a French singer. That's the kind of movie I'm supposed to love : a true story, a historical background, a bit of drama... Well, I didn't liked it, for one simple reason : I didn't understand anything ! The truth is, I didn't knew much about Piaf's life before going. I never saw her singing on TV, unlike my father. She's an artist from one or two generations ago. And the scenario is like a puzzle : it is all muddle up ! It starts when she’s a child, then goes when she’s old, then back to her childhood, then when she’s a woman, then back to her teen years, and so on… So half of the time, I was like : hum, who’s that character ? Is that the same I saw on the previous sequence but older ? Or someone else ? Hence I didn’t enjoy the film quite much. Too much concentration needed.

However, some good points that make the film worth seeing :
● Marion Cotillard, the actress who plays Edith Piaf, is remarkable ! She really incarnates the singer admirably ! Bravo Marion ! (Even if she had way too much make-up on her face to my mind !)
● One other good side of the movie is the setting : a view of popular Paris during the 2nd WW and the fifties.
● And of course, the music ! Marion is always singing in play-back. So basically the whole soundtrack is sung by Edith herself. It was nice to hear all those old songs once again.

By the way, I've got a funny anecdote about Edith Piaf. Last year my Taiwanese flatmate would ask me to listen to French music. So I gave him CDs of all the groups I used to listen to (Telephone, Indochine, Noir Désir, Louise Attaque, that kind of things - that is to say French rock). He told me it was not his kind of music. So I presented him some "variété française" artists, you know, such as J.J. Goldmann, Patrick Bruel and so on… They're all sooooo popular in France. He wasn't very happy with it. Then we accidentally came across a song from Edith Piaf. He loved it ! He said it looks like very typical and old French music (and it obviously is !). So I downloaded all the songs from Edith Piaf I could find for him, and that's how a new fan of this old singer was born :))) Maybe I'll make new fans today, who knows ? Ladies & gentlemen, this is La Vie en Rose :