Edith Piaf, known as the "Queen of Bird Songs", was born in Paris in 1915 to a family of wandering entertainers. Piaf's life was extremely rough and legendary. Not long after her birth, she was sent to Normandy to live with her grandmother because her father joined the army, a rare happy time in her life. After the war, Piaf was picked up by his father and followed him around France.
At the age of 15, Piaf returned to Paris alone. Until one day, Louis Ripley, the owner of an upscale café in Paris, found her. Ripley was so fascinated by Piaf's voice that he immediately signed her up and gave her the stage name "Little Bird." But before Piaf had a few days of peace, Ripley was stabbed to death. Piaf's life slipped into a low point again, and the big tabloids made a fuss about it all day long. Fortunately, one of her admirers, Raymond Esso, stepped forward, and he not only helped her get out of trouble, but also made her the first good song worth keeping.
Since then, Piaf has also entered the film industry and entered the theater stage. Between the two wars, her magical voice and unique stage performance conquered France. In 1947, Piaf came to the United States for a concert, where she also achieved great success and became a lifelong friend with the movie star Marlene Dietrich. In addition, she fell in love with boxing champion Marcel Sandan. But bad luck came again. In 1949, Marcel died in a plane crash. This incident hit her hard, because the people she loved were always taken away by fate.
However, Piaf rose up again and returned to the stage. But Doom still refused to let her go. In just a few months, she suffered two traffic accidents. During the treatment, she became addicted to drugs and alcohol. After being discharged from the hospital, she was still in very poor health. After two years of recuperation, she insisted on flying to the United States to tour, and based on the highest stage of the song, she became a real international superstar. In 1962, Piaf married the Greek singer Theophilis Lambocas. In October of the following year, she died of illness near Cannes. Her funeral was held in Paris, and tens of thousands of people spontaneously followed her on foot to the place where she was buried. Lachaise Cemetery.
Director Olivier Dahang did not narrate the life of "The Queen of Birds" in chronological order, but introduced some fragments of Piaf's life intermittently. On the surface, it seems that the inserted flashbacks have no It makes sense, but after watching the whole film, we seem to see that Piaf, who is on the verge of death, is looking back on the road he has traveled from 1915 to 1963. Since it is the memory of a dying person, it is naturally impossible to be completely linear, only will be the most memorable moments. In fact, it is quite clear that the film begins to introduce Edith from being abandoned by her mother as a child to being adopted by the prostitute Didina, and her father taking her to the circus after the war. In the 1940s, her crazy love affair with boxing champion Marcel in the United States made her unforgettable, but her second marriage in the 1950s was fleeting, because she was already attached to alcohol and morphine. The pace of life seems to have sped up considerably, World War II seems to have passed her by, and the film recreates her beloved songs.
Actor Gaudiard's performance is really wonderful, she is completely integrated with the character, although the script is slightly messy, but Gaudiard firmly binds the film into a complete story like concrete, and successfully reproduces Pia Fu's rough life. It is also worth mentioning that the makeup of the film, especially the makeup of the elderly Piaf, is very convincing in the close-up shots, and there is no trace of rubber at all. While this isn't the first reenactment of Piaf's saga, and probably won't be the last, Gaudiard's performance of the songstress is sure to be unforgettable.
Edith Piaf is undoubtedly the greatest French singer. She sang from Belleville (Belleville) in Paris to New York, USA, from extreme poverty to incomparable glory, and became an international superstar. Can the sudden death in Cannes be called "Rose Life"? It seems inappropriate, or "little girl" is more appropriate. The film was named the best French film of 2007, and for good reason. As the opening ceremony of the Berlin Film Festival, it is reasonable to win the Golden Bear Award.
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