Marion Cotillard Captivates in Carax’s ‘Annette’

Marion Cotillard is one of the most celebrated actors of our time.

In quite a stunner of an upset (and a just one) she won the 2007 Best Actress Academy Award for her astonishing work portraying Edith Piaf in La Vie En Rose. She has delivered a slew of indelible performances since in films that include: Nine, Inception, Midnight in Paris, Rust and Bone, The Dark Knight Rises, The Immigrant, Allied, Rock ’n Roll, and Two Days, One Night which brought her a much deserved second Oscar nomination.

She is currently co-starring with Adam Driver in one of the most singular cinematic achievements of 2021, Leos Carax’s Annette, a rock-infused movie with music, lyrics and a screenplay by Ron and Russell Mael (Sparks). In the film, Cotillard plays a world renown opera singer who falls in love with an idiosyncratic, popular comedian. The two marry and have a mysterious little girl and things get bizarre and super dark from there. The film does take on some heady themes such as the need for recognition, how ambition and ego can lead down a spiraling abyss and the destructive power of revenge.

I’d rather not say more since part of the experience is not knowing too much about the already divisive film that had its World Premiere at Cannes last month.

One thing is for certain, both Driver and the dazzling Cotillard will be in the awards conversation. I had the pleasure of speaking all too briefly with Marion on the literal eve of the Los Angeles premiere.

Annette is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.