From Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles to Reese Witherspoon as June Carter in "Walk the Line," it seems that these days, all an actor needs to do to win critical acclaim is play a musical icon.

The latest songbird to hit the silverscreen is legendary French chanteuse Edith Piaf, a woman whose life and loves were as heartbreaking as her voice.

Marion Cotillard stars in French filmmaker Olivier Dahan's "La Vie en Rose," which will launch the competition among about 20 pictures for the Berlin Film Festival's coveted Golden Bear top prize.

Best known for classics including "Non, je regrette rien" and the film's title song, her soulful voice and turbulent life made Piaf a household name.

She spent some of her illness-wracked early years in the brothel her mother ran before shooting to international stardom in the 1940s and hobnobbing with the likes of Jean Cocteau, Charles Aznavour and Marlene Dietrich. Her death of cancer in 1963 brought hundreds of thousands of mourners onto the streets of Paris.

Star allure

French stars Gerard Depardieu, Sylvie Testud and Emmanuelle Seigner, all featured in supporting roles, are also expected for the red-carpet premiere.

In recent years, the Berlin Film festival has had to cope with poorly received opening films which critics said were picked only if the stars attended.

The festival ranks just below Cannes and alongside Venice among Europe's premier film festivals, although it struggles to hold its own in terms of glamour and star power.

It runs from Feb. 8 to 18.