If you read enough books, watch enough films or listen to enough records, you start to realize that all of this shit had already all existed. You see it, most times, in other films, books and records. It's referenced and all these allusions -- had you not seen, read or heard them -- fly right over your head. You pretend to understand or you just ignore it.
It shocks me how many times Edith Piaf is referenced, especially in films. It's also shocking seeing Marion Cotillard in a number of roles, rarely are they ever as good as her portrayal as Piaf.
It's hard to properly put in context Piaf's influence and meaning to the country of France. I can't put it in persepective.
I would say it's kind of like what Barbara Streisand means to the United States, but that doesn't really capture Piaf's impact on France. There's too much that infatuates Americans especially in the past 20 years.
When Piaf was at her absolute peak, Piaf was everything to France, a country that had been ripped to shreds by World War I and then by the Nazis. It also probably gives meaning that Piaf died relatively early whereas someone like Streisand will probably go into her 90s.
This is a fantastic film on the brink of being an epic about this woman's erratic, destructive and fast-paced life. Cotillard deserve every award she received.
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