[note 3] The film begins with elements from her childhood, and at the end with the events prior to and surrounding her death, poignantly juxtaposed by a performance of her song, "Non, je ne regrette rien" (No, I do not Regret Anything).

Beginning in 1918, young Édith suffers a chaotic childhood and is eventually sent to live with her paternal-grandmother, who runs a brothel in Normandy.

When she suffers an episode of keratitis-induced blindness, a kind-hearted sex worker named Titine tenderly cares for Édith.

Years later, nightclub owner Louis Leplée hires Édith to sing at his club and gives her the stage surname of Piaf, a colloquialism for sparrow that is inspired by her diminutive height of only 1.47m (4 ft 8in).

While performing in New York City, Édith meets Marcel Cerdan, a fellow French national and a middleweight boxer competing for the World Champion title.

An affair ensues and, while it is supposedly a secret, "La Vie En Rose" is played for Marcel wherever he goes.

Charles Dumont and Michel Vaucaire offer her the composition, "Non, je ne regrette rien", which she loves and announces that she will perform it.

Prior to what turns out to be her last performance, Édith asks for the cross necklace that she always wears and her staff rush away to get it.

She is afraid and experiences a disjointed series of memories of small, yet defining moments—her mother commenting on her "wild eyes", her father giving her a doll, and thoughts of her own dead child, Marcelle.

Director Olivier Dahan came up with the idea for the film on 22 January 2004, when he was in a bookstore and found a book of photographs of French singer Édith Piaf and began to look at them.

[7] That same day, Dahan sent a text message proposing the project to French producer Alain Goldman, with whom he had previously worked on the film Crimson Rivers II: Angels of the Apocalypse (2004), and Goldman quickly replied saying he had accepted to work on the project.

[14][15] Producer Alain Goldman and casting director Olivier Carbone accepted and defended the choice,[16][17] while French distributor TF1 reduced the money they gave to finance the film because they thought Cotillard was not "bankable" enough an actress.

[16] The producers originally wanted Audrey Tautou for the role,[16][18] and reduced $5 million from the budget after Cotillard was cast.

[12] Cotillard is a foot taller than Piaf[22] – who was only 1,47 cm (4 ft 8in) tall[23] – and had to contract her body in order to make herself look shorter.

[26] Three songs were entirely performed by singer Jil Aigrot: "Mon Homme" (My Man),[27] "Les Mômes de la Cloche" (The kids of the bell),[27] and "Les Hiboux" (Owls),[27] as well as the third verse and chorus of "L'Accordéoniste"[citation needed] (The accordionist) and the first chorus of "Padam, padam...".

[citation needed] Apart from that, "La Marseillaise" is performed by child singer Cassandre Berger[citation needed] (lip-synched by Pauline Burlet, who plays the young Édith in the film), and Mistinguett's "Mon Homme" (My Man) and "Il m'a vue nue" (He saw me naked) (sung in part by Emmanuelle Seigner) also appear.

[6] In Francophone countries including France, Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia, the film grossed a total of $42,651,334.

[11] La Vie en Rose became the third-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States since 1980 (behind Amélie (2001) and Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)).

[39] The site's critical consensus reads, "The set design and cinematography are impressive, but the real achievement of La Vie en Rose is Marion Cotillard's mesmerizing, wholly convincing performance as Edith Piaf.

"[39] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 66 out of 100 based on 29 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

[39] A. O. Scott of The New York Times, while unimpressed with the film itself, said "it is hard not to admire Ms. Cotillard for the discipline and ferocity she brings to the role.

"[42] Carino Chocano of the Los Angeles Times opined that "Marion Cotillard is astonishing as the troubled singer in a technically virtuosic and emotionally resonant performance..." Richard Nilsen from Arizona Republic was even more enthusiastic, writing "don't bother voting.

[note 4] Kermode agreed that the source material provided "heady inspiration", and that Cotillard plays everything with "kamikaze-style intensity", but thought the film lacking in structure and narrative, creating "an oddly empty experience".

[43] Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times wrote; "In a brief featurette on the film's DVD release, director Olivier Dahan says he recognized Piaf's eyes in the actress.

Cotillard's onlooker's eyes, when she portrays Piaf's performances on stage, reflect the theater – the audience, the ushers, the worn velvet of the seats.

Cotillard makes the screen Piaf coarse, tormented, hollow-eyed, and vibrant, while Olivier Dahan's color-saturated film leaps around in time in ways that are thoroughly disorienting.

But sequence somehow seems less and less important as the actress lip-syncs to vintage Piaf recordings, becoming the little sparrow --idolized but unloved, addicted to morphine, and desperately ill — la vie tres tragique, en rose.

In summary it said that the film, despite its somewhat disjointed and episodic narrative, revolves around Piaf's resilience, showcasing her magnificent spirit as she navigates through love, loss, and the challenges of her extraordinary career, making it a compelling yet incomplete exploration of the legendary artist's life.