June 24, 2007
REMEMBERING PIAF AND AN IMAGINARY FRANCE
Horsefeathers rarely goes to the movies these days. We were lured out however, by reviews of the Piaf biopic, La Vie En Rose. The movie is a mess, but Marion Cotillard's impersonation of Piaf singing is enough to make us yearn for the fantasy France of our youth, a fantasy largely shaped by Piaf's songs. The romantic version of France we believed in has vanished but Piaf sang long before we ever heard of 'cheese eating surrender monkeys'; we didn't yet know of the widespread French collaboration with the Nazis, and De Gaulle was still a heroic figure of the resistance, rather than an anti-American, pro-Arab Jew hater. Still, listening to Piaf conjures up, as if by magic, that imaginary place of our youth, the Left Bank, great art, philosophy, literature, food, and doomed Love.
Our list of favorite female singers includes Billie Holiday, Janis Joplin, Dinah Washington, Judy Garland, Susannah Mc'Corkle and Piaf. Every one of them died young, doomed by excess: drugs, drink and suicidal madness. Watching the Piaf biopic one wonders how she managed to survive to age 47. Thanks to the magic of You Tube, it's possible to see the real Piaf, to listen to the power of that marvelous voice emerging from her 4 foot, 8 inch ravaged body. Here's a selection:
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