The 2007 biopic Olivier Dahan directed (and co-wrote) about Edith Piaf has two titles, both in French. In the original version it is called ‘La Môme‘ (which would roughly translate as ‘the kid girl’), an allusion to the singer’s first stage name in the world of cabaret (La Môme Piaf). For the English version, the distributors chose ‘La Vie en Rose’, the title of one of her famous songs. I personally prefer the original, which I think better describes the intentions of Olivier Dahan, a director who has two more biographies of famous women in his filmography, the most recent about Simone Weil. The character constructed by the filmmaker represents a personal version of the singer’s biography and personality, one that is far from having a rosy life. Dahan together with the impressive actress in the lead role did not try to build a complete and ultimate biography, but rather present their vision of one of France’s greatest singers and especially of the woman she was.
Edith Piaf’s life was a constant and messy struggle for survival. This was true in childhood and youth when it came to physical survival and desperate attempts to overcome the miserable social condition into which she had been born, and it was true later when she had achieved success but had to struggle to survive as artist and as a woman. Co-screenwriter and director Olivier Dahan felt – and I think he was right – that a conventional, chronologically narrated biopic would not have suited her. The film oscillates between two temporal planes: the last years of the singer’s life, who had barely passed 40, but in which she had become a physical ruin due to depression, drugs and alcohol consumption, the stage being the only place where she exercised her immense talent and charisma; and flashbacks of her childhood years and of the road to consecration, the years in which she had transformed from a wild girl raised in brothels or traveling circuses to an even wilder but talented and then famous singer. Biographical elements are picked subjectively. Those related to her sentimental life and to some extent her artistic training predominate. Entire episodes such as the entire period of the war and the occupation of Paris are omitted. Among the men in her life, only the boxer Marcel Cerdan occupies an important place on screen (he was indeed, apparently, her great love) while – for example – Yves Montand is ignored except for an indirect mention, and the names of her two husbands are not even mentioned. Viewers who have some familiarity with the French music scene of those years will recognize characters like Bruno Coquatrix (composer and patron of the famous Olympia hall). The others will probably remain puzzled by the multitude of characters that surround the singer.
Dahan‘s filming style is adapted to the episodes and periods of the singer’s life that were brought to the screen. When he describes her first years of life we have a historical drama on the screen. When it comes to the sentimental connection with Cerdan, the chosen style is that of the romantic films of the ’40s or ’50s. And when the heroine is in crisis and conflict, the camera seems to vibrate with her. The performance of Marion Cotillard dominates, this is one of her great roles, which places her in the first rank of French actresses. Aided by an exceptional make-up, she achieved a formidable role here, which fully justifies the Academy Award for Best Actress. Two European actresses had received it before her: Simone Signoret (but for a role played in English) and Sophia Loren for La Ciociara. Edith Piaf in this movie is Marion Cotillard and Marion Cotillard is Edith Piaf. A formidable role, but still I had a hard time to identify with the heroine. ‘La Môme‘ is a magistral edition of the actress’s biography, but not a complete or definitive one.