Most of Lelouch's stuff is overlong and pompous, and one feels that the director is more concerned with making pleasure for himself than attracting an audience to his films. This film is no exception ! Having recently viewed " La Môme ", I happened a couple of days ago to come across Edith and Marcel DVD in my local market so bought it as it was very cheap to compare. There are some good bits to the film, and I thought that Bouix was both an attractive actress and a fairly compelling Piaf. Bouix appears in two roles in the film, that of Piaf herself and that of Margot, an unknown citizen who is living her own love story simultaneously to that between Piaf and Cerdan. Some of the tunes figuring in the film were totally invented and never sung by Piaf. Others are the genuine article. The film starts with Piafs' learning of Cerdan's death in an air crash and then flashes back to 1939 to follow in depth this episode of Piaf's life. Other well known French actors such as the lovable and much regretted Jean Bouise, Charlotte de Turckheim and Jean-Claude Brialy also play principal parts. As you might expect from Lelouch there are a lot of travelling shots, circular filmings and crowd scenes. This is all well and good but the whole thing drags on for two and a half hours which is far too long for one single episode of Piaf's life, albeit an emotional one. There are ample scenes of music playing over the actors without you hearing the latter speak, again a common technique of Lelouch's and one that I personally like but this again goes on for far too long. Basically then, the film has some interesting bit and good music but is also sleep-inducing due to its length so mattress and/or pillows are advisable for watching it.
Review of Edith and Marcel
