French musical biopic delivers richly realised portrait of an icon
★★★½
M, 134 minutes. In cinemas MAY 8
Musical biopics have been enjoying a sporadic romance with the box office for a long time.
It climaxed for the first time in 2005 with Walk the Line, the Johnny Cash story, and rose to an all-time high with Rami Malek's turn as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018).
The French weighed in with La Vie en Rose (2019) with Marion Cotillard pouring herself into Edith Piaf's tiny frame. Now we have Monsieur Aznavour, which tackles the life of Piaf's friend and protege, Charles Aznavour. These days, most biopics take a discrete approach, concentrating on the highlights and, more frequently, the lowlights of a long, and preferably, turbulent career, but this one makes a valiant effort to cram it all in. We begin in Aznavour's Paris childhood as the cosseted son of a close, music-loving family of Armenian refugees and end with him in his 90s, still holding the crowds in his thrall.
He's played by French-Algerian actor Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian), who spent six months learning to replicate Aznavour's singing voice, and he grows into the role just as Aznavour grows into his career. His transformation begins when Piaf, who's taken a liking to him, suggests that he get a nose job. Even so, she remains unsure about his prospects as a stage performer, eventually deciding that his talents lie in writing songs rather than singing them.
Cast as Piaf is Marie-Julie Baup, whose performance is wholly convincing while presenting a fascinating contrast with Cotillard's. Cotillard depicted the pathos in being Piaf. Baup is all about her dictatorial manner, her raucous sense of fun, and her pleasure in making mischief.
In the end, she's too much for Aznavour, who strikes out on his own with his best friend and fellow musician Pierre Roche (Bastien Bouillon). The two cycle all over France, travelling from one gig to another and having a fine time with the women they meet. By now, Aznavour is married with a daughter but his faithlessness is the first of his betrayals on his way to the top. He finally abandons Roche, as well, because his agent persuades him that he'll do better going solo. It's a candid reading of his character, all the more impressive because the filmmakers discussed the script with Aznavour before he died.
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The film is co-directed by Mehdi Idir and Fabien Marsaud, a slam poet and songwriter who took the stage name, Grand Corps Malade ('Tall, Sick Body') after a spinal injury left him having to walk with a stick. As a performer, he had the opportunity to sing with Aznavour, finding him happy to mentor young talent, an aspect of his personality which briefly shows up in the film as part of its attempt to cover everything. As a nod towards his experiences as a film star, we also get a quick glimpse of him on the set of Francois Truffaut's Shoot the Pianist. And at one point, a totally unbelievable Frank Sinatra passes through the action.
It's all a bit choppy but all up, it looks and sounds great – a richly realised portrait of a man triumphantly in tune with his time.
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