Édith et Marcel (1983) - film review

Before World War II, Edith Piaf and Marcel Cerdan were both on their way to becoming legends in their own lifetimes.  From humble begins in the streets of Paris, Piaf is one of the most well-known and successful singers in the world, renowned for her tragic love songs;  Cerdan is a boxing champion who has acquired a reputation for being unbeatable.  After the war, it seems inevitable that the two should meet and have a passionate – and horribly ill-fated – love affair.  Their story is paralleled by that of Jacques and Margot, inconsequential people who meet through exceptional circumstances and who are equally marked by the cruelty of fate…

Claude Lelouch’s affectionate tribute to Edith Piaf and Marcel Cerdan – an iconic pairing if there was one – is (like much of Lelouch’s work) a boisterous, rambling affair with an excess of style which ocassionally risks being mistaken for vulgarity.  The film’s self-indulgences are at first hard to swallow but become more palatable as you warm to the film’s sincerity and flowery romanticism.  For those who find pleasure in Lelouch’s idiosyncratic style of cinema or who have a particular interest in either of the film’s two principal protagonists, Edith et Marcel is an absorbing film that engages both the emotions and the intellect; others may be inclined to deliver a less favourable verdict.

The film was itself marred by tragedy at an early stage in its production.  Originally, Patrick Dewaere, arguably France’s most promising actor at the time, was cast in the role of Marcel Cerdan.  It was during rehearsals for the film that Dewaere inexplicably committed suicide.   His part in the film was subsequently given to Marcel Cerdan’s own son.   Charles Aznavour also appears in the film, playing himself as a young man and providing the film with some of its most memorable moments.

Anyone expecting an in-depth and accurate portrayal of the lives of Edith Piaf or Marcel Cerdan will be disappointed by the film.  The narrative skates along the surface of what is generally known about the couple’s ill-fated liaison without venturing too much background information.  In addition, a second story strand, involving an ordinary couple, takes up roughly half of the film’s runtime, dividing our attention and preventing us from probing too deeply into the steamy Piaf-Cerdan affair.  Lelouch just about gets away with this because he avoids the conventional narrative approach and instead uses music and camera movement in an original way to create a near-abstract portrayal of doomed love, although he fails to capture the spirit of Piaf’s songs.   A far more satisfying – and accurate – appreciation of Piaf’s life experiences can be gained just by listening to recordings of her by now legendary songs.

© James Travers 2003

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