With Let’s Get Lost I had quite a back to back with the movies recently. Both are excellent films about incredible talents with a strong thread of tragedy running through their lives- great cinema, definitely in the downer column. There are worse things, of course, I just thought I’d point it out.
This, the story of iconic French singer, Edith Piaf, is truly a great film. It’d be tough to go wrong with the source material, but it really beat my expectations. That’s due mostly to the incredible performance turned in by Marion Cotillard. On the surface it’s a stereotypical “great” performance. Aided by makeup and highlighted by the physical transformations brought on by Piaf’s poor health, the showy aspects of this performance are of the type that I’m usually skeptical of when similar performances are held up as truly transcendent accomplishments (I’m looking at you Charlize Theron in Monster.) The thing is, in this case the obvious changes are buoyed by a heartbreakingly honest portrayal of the complicated inner life of the singer. makeup or no makeup the emotion that plays out across just Cotillard’s eyes is enough to get me nodding my head in approval. It’s truly a wonderful performance.
Beyond that, and that’s all you really need in my book, the rest of the film is also excellent. Based on the little sparrow’s fascinating, tragic life, the film is well written, paced nicely and well acted across the board. It’s a painful thing to watch, especially with the empathy generated by Cotillard’s performance, but there’s a beauty in the pain, much like Piaf’s music itself.
I can’t go on without mentioning the music. The film is obviously full of Piaf’s music and, for me, that would have been worth the price of admission alone. It’s a glorious, unique* thing, her voice and spending a couple of hours getting to know it and the life behind it better was something special.
All in all this is an excellent film and one that is most highly recommended.
*It’s interesting that I say unique here, because there are several scenes voiced by an uncanny Piaf soundalike named Jil Aigrot- as I learned from this feature on PRI’s The World.
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