Top 10 Performances: Marion Cotillard

10. It's Only the End of the World 

An atypical sort of turn for Cotillard as she really disappears into the role of mousy, shy, retiring Catherine and stands out even amongst other more showy performances and delivers one of her quietest yet no less impactful turns as essentially the reactionary observer to the chaotic homecoming unfolding around her.

9. A Very Long Engagement 

Essentially an extended cameo amidst the visual splendour of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's direction, Cotillard's brief but memorable turn as a vengeful prostitute and lover of one of the condemned soldiers at the heart of the film's narrative, is one of the highlights of the film's many anecdotes. This is a great example of an actor's presence defining the role as she has very little actual backstory and meat to the character yet creates a compelling figure that in many ways steals the film.

8. Allied 

Her co-star gives her almost nothing to work with, but Cotillard is phenomenal in giving the star turn of this Robert Zemeckis wartime thriller. As a French Resistance fighter coming under suspicion of being a German spy, Cotillard is just the right balance of fun and mystery as the puzzle to crack, giving such an entertaining old style Hollywood turn, while earning the dramatic intentions of the film through her devotion to making her Marianne a character you truly grow to care for, regardless of what her allegiances are.

7. Macbeth

I'm not a huge fan of this particular adaptation of the Scottish play when it comes to the visual direction and overall stylistic choices, but one thing that cannot be faulted with it are the performances. Cotillard is a fascinating choice as Lady Macbeth opposite an excellent Michael Fassbender, both giving very atypical takes on the iconic characters. Hers is one of a detachment growing into a searing depression rather than madness which makes for quite a memorable take, as it creates a real sense of discomfort in her downfall.

6. Inception

As quite literally the woman of Leonardo DiCaprio's dreams, Cotillard gives a riveting performance as Mal Cobb in really conveying all the duplicitous nature of the character's heightened 'dream' presence, and is appropriately dominating and incisive whenever she appears as an adversary to the dream heist team. What takes this a step further is it is a surprisingly heartbreaking performance when you get down to its core, and Cotillard is fantastic in bringing out the vulnerability to the character beneath the femme fatale surface.

5. Public Enemies 

Cotillard surprisingly disappears into the role of infamous Great Depression gangster John Dillinger's Wisconsin-born waitress/singer Billy Frechette, as even though the accent isn't quite all there, the way she carries herself through her performance is just so fitting to the period and clicks with Johnny Depp's strong portrayal of Dillinger so well. She is for lack of a better word a shining light to the proceedings, and creates such a strong dynamic with Depp I wish the film had focused even more upon, and her final scene with Stephen Lang is one of the best scenes of her career.

4. Two Days, One Night 

Cotillard's most naturalistic and unassuming performance is still as magnetic as any of her other performances, holding together a very low-key character driven drama so well through her terrific performance as Sandra, who has to persuade her co-workers to forsake a bonus in order for her to keep her job. It is at times a unbearably meek portrayal of such a character and Cotillard's realisation of her arc into someone who can stand up for herself over the course of two days, one night is incredible in how much she brings through such a 'quiet' performance.

3. La Vie En Rose 

The film which won her the Oscar for Best Actress, Cotillard's spellbinding biopic performance as French singer Edith Piaf is one that more than lives up to the hype. Playing such a famous figure is always a challenge, particularly over the course of Piaf's whole life under varying layers of makeup, and Cotillard turns in a magnificent performance in performing all the greatest hits, both musically and the narrative beats, of Piaf's life  that despite the film's strangely non-linear structure, manages to be cohesive through her no holes barred portrayal of all of Piaf's successes, failures, joys, demons and she is truly magnificent in a film that could have compromised her performance, in delivering a full-bodied and fearless turn as both the public and private depiction of Edith Piaf.

2. The Immigrant 

It was a tough choice between this top two, and I could switch at any point since Cotillard is extraordinary here as an immigrant to America who goes through some truly haunting, terrible experiences in 1920s New York. Cotillard gives a tremendous portrayal of the awful mistreatment her character goes through reflected in her physical performance, while maintaining this strange otherworldly grace that feels so perfect for the character of Ewa. Her journey through the seedy underbelly of society is palatably horrible yet also so compelling by the sheer magnetism of her performance here, her chemistry with both Joaquin Phoenix and Jeremy Renner is particularly good, and she gives a performance that could have easily slotted into one of the great 1940s, 1950s melodramas of ood.

1. Rust and Bone 

As a dolphin trainer who goes through a horrific accident, Cotillard's finest hour comes in her terrific, commanding portrayal of a troubled soul Stephanie moving aimlessly through life when she meets Ali (a terrific Matthias Schoenaerts). The portrayal of the scene where she realises the life-changing damage her accident has done to her is some of the best acting I've ever seen, but equally great are the scenes afterwards where she shows the differing stages of grief, with the moments where it seems like she's lost all purpose in life being particularly striking in how raw and genuine they feel. Her chemistry with Schoenaerts and depiction of the healing process is just as incredible, all building up to the strangely poetic nature of the film's depiction of healing, and she deserves all the credit in the world along with director Jaques Audiard for making Katy Perry's 'Firework' part of one of the most moving scenes of the decade.