Member review

This french film chronicle's the biopic of legendary singer Edith Piaf, also known as "the little sparrow" because despite her huge voice she stood barely 5 feet tall. Marion Cotillard (Inception) gives an incredible performance which went on to win her an oscar and her portayal of Piaf is very believable, plus the script makes a good job of playing with our opinion of her- in some scenes such as when we she her as a child, we admire her and are happy for her success, however in other scenes (mainly those that show the start of her singing career) make our opinion of her more negative with her apparent lack of respect to others and self indugent joking. As well, the audience do feel like they've gone on a journey with changing emotions around the protagonist eventually leading up to a performance which leaves you speechless... However, the film is done with a fragmented timeline, meaning the events aren't chronological, generally I find this to be a good storytelling technique, however some films will take it a bit far and I feel these is one of those films. Very often the film will jump to different areas of Piaf's life, and although it demands you pay attention (and makes the story more interesting) soon the film becomes confusing, and there were moments where I wasn't sure what was happening. I enjoyed La Vie En Rose and Cotillard is desearving of her oscar, however the film is let down by a non-linear timeline which becomes confusing and unclear.