I fell in love with Paris when I first visited a few years ago, and look forward to returning. I was recently charmed by Paris, je t'aime—a unique project composed of five-minute films by twenty different directors shot in Paris' twenty arrondissements. But nothing transports me back to the cafes of Montmartre like an Edith Piaf song.

Termed the "soul of Paris" by Marlene Dietrich, Piaf remains atop the pantheon of artists from the City of Lights. Born Edith Giovanna Gassion, her stage name literally means "sparrow," but that only applies to Piaf's petite frame. The bold, brassy voice emanating from Parisian streets filled music halls during her day and continues to be heard in countless cafes and movie soundtracks today. Although snippets of Edith Piaf on film (e.g., a cameo in Jean Renoir's French Cancan, song selections in Bull Durham and Saving Private Ryan) can be found, a full treatment was unavailable . . . until 2007. Piaf's poignant and tragic story unfolds memorably in La Vie En Rose (La Môme).

Director Olivier Dahan strives to capture the essence of Edith Piaf rather than craft a straight-forward biopic chronicling highlights and greatest hits. This impressionistic take may disappoint some viewers expecting to see Yves Montand and other significant celebrities and follow "The Little Sparrow" through the French Resistance, but they should feel fully compensated by a generous sampling of Piaf songs and by Marion Cotillard's incredible channeling of the iconic singer. Not only does Cotillard look extraordinarily like Piaf, but she lip-synchs through Piaf's songs with remarkable precision and intensity. Previously best known to American audiences as Russell Crowe's love interest in A Good Year, the Parisian born actress now will forever be linked with Piaf—pencil in her name for next year's Academy Award nominations.

The biggest problem any filmmaker faces with Piaf is that her story covers so much dramatic territory, it's difficult to trim it to manageable size and give it an appropriate scope. Such an artist deserves better than Taylor Hackford's paint by numbers work in Ray or Richard Attenborough's sprawling epic work in Gandhi. So credit Goldman for his efforts to create cinematic art over inclusiveness. This connects more intimately with Piaf's spirit than would have been possible with more details from her chaotic and tragic life. As Goldman reflects:

"Piaf is the perfect example of someone who places no barrier between her life and her art. The fusion between your existence and work is the very foundation of a true artist."

Art is what Dahan seeks to create in La Vie En Rose, so expect no standard biopic as you follow the film. The structure itself will cause many consternation as it time trips back and forth between Piaf’s final illness, her famous collapses on stage near the end of her career, to early years on the street, to childhood. It's more an emotional journey that contrasts triumph with uncertainty, joyous ecstasy to devastation, boisterous drinking binges to despair, vitality to feebleness. Most shocking is seeing how fast she deteriorates—a stark contrast with the vibrant, powerful singing voice we've heard (and continue to enjoy years later). Addicted to morphine, she appears to age nearly three decades from 1960 to 1963 as her frail body succumbs--extremely bent over with arthritis, her face framed with thinning frizzy reddish hair.

Sketched in are vital events that shape the legendary songbird's life—a sickly child initially abandoned by her street singing mother and then her circus acrobat father to grow up in a Normandy brothel, temporarily blind and deaf until a miraculous cure takes place when prostitutes take her on pilgrimage to be blessed by St. Therese, torn away from her "adopted" mother in the brothel to accompany her father, and making her "debut" on the streets by belting out "La Marseilles." Flash forward another decade and Piaf and her friend Mômone (Sylvie Testud) are traipsing about Monmartre and surviving through Edith's street singing until discovered by Louis Leplée (Gérard Depardieu). That's only the beginning of a now legendary career.

The film includes many iconic Piaf songs: "Milord," "Mon Legionnaire," "Mon Dieu," "La Vie En Rose," and "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien," which most appropriately serves as the finale. In English that translates to "No, I have no regrets;" Piaf instantly recognizes this song as thematic for her life, recording it in 1960, and the world has never quite been the same since. Piaf aficionados will appreciate the film for its intimate perspective and the fact that most of the songs are performed by Piaf, but I also expect a number of people who have only had casual contact with her music will also gain deeper appreciation for her incredible talent and for the artistic temperment that drove her towards perfection. I expect to break out my box set of Piaf CDs many times over the coming months, and I look forward to revisiting her final resting place in Père Lachaise Cemetery.

I plan to bring a rose the next time, but until then I can be thankful that Olivier Dahan has credibly captured Piaf's spirit on film by casting an actress who somehow has found the strength and range to dynamically portray her joys and torments.