Lavish biopic recounting the life and work of legendary French fashion designer Coco Chanel, from her humble beginnings in an Auvergne orphanage in the late 1800s after being abandoned by her pedlar father. Audrey Tatou stars in the title role as Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, whose inspiration and determination eventually took her to the most elevated position in the male-dominated fashion industry.
| Starring: |
Audrey Tautou, Benoit Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain, Emmanuelle Devos, Régis Royer, Etienne Bartholomeus, Yan Duffas, Fabien Behar, Roch Leibovici, Jean-Yves Chatelais |
| Director: |
Anne Fontaine |
| Run time: |
110 minutes |
| Languages: |
French |
| Distributor: |
|
MyMovies
The tale of the woman who turned the fashion world on its head, advocating elegance and simplicity, is aptly brought ...
The tale of the woman who turned the fashion world on its head, advocating elegance and simplicity, is aptly brought to the big screen in a whirlwind of brooding style in Anne Fontaine's "Coco Before Chanel".The embodiment of French femininity, Audrey Tautou, takes on the lead role of ballsy designer Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel and holds together this biopic beautifully, tracing Chanel's life from her childhood in a Catholic orphanage through to her breakthrough as an innovative hat designer in Paris. The adult Coco is introduced in a pre-First World War France as one half of a singing duo at a small town cabaret at night, while working as a seamstress by day. In her pursuit of fame and fortune, she meets playboy heir Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde) and then swiftly moves into his country estate as his casual courtesan. It is amidst the beauty of Balsan's estate and the lavishness of his guests' outfits that Coco hones her own sleek style, which contrasted with the overdone frilliness of contemporary French women's fashion. However, that is not all Coco learns: she is also taught a lesson in love when she falls head over heels for Balsan's business acquaintance, British industrialist Arthur 'Boy' Capel (Alessandro Nivola). This heady, but ultimately doomed romance gives the budding designer the impetus to launch her own career.Tautou's sumptuous performance as the enigmatic Coco Chanel is alone enough to make this film a pleasure to watch. Tautou, introduced to the world in "Amelie", plays the fashion icon with confidence, treading a fine line between aloofness and fragility, masked in an ironclad self-belief. Although the love story with Capel is less absorbing than the rest of the film, it adds another dimension to the protagonist's story, and gives more emotional depth to her character. Special mention must also go to Benoit Poelvoorde's performance as the debauched Balsan, whose scenes with Tautou bring out the best in both actors. It may not be a must-see, but "Coco Before Chanel" is a lovingly crafted blend of substance and style.
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Press Association
Buoyed by a , £125,000 grant from the UK Film Council's Prints and Advertising Fund, Anne Fontaine's biopic sashays into ...
Buoyed by a , £125,000 grant from the UK Film Council's Prints and Advertising Fund, Anne Fontaine's biopic sashays into around 90 cinemas around the UK and Ireland. At a time when summer blockbusters saturate the market, Coco Before Chanel (Coco Avant Chanel) is a welcome dose of Gallic flair, chronicling the r, ise to fame of one of couture's most revered icons. The central casting of Audrey Tautou, a luminous screen presence since the delightful Amelie, should help to attract audiences unfamiliar with the story of Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel, the fashion designer from very humble beginnings who became a cause, celebre in pre-First World War France. Fontaine's picture is impeccably coiffed and tailored, employing authentic models and jewellery from the Chanel Conservatory, augmented by Catherine Leterrier's costumes which mimic the fabrics and cuts of the '30s designs. Fans of Chanel's pure, flowing lines, will coo with delight in the final catwalk but the attention to detail throughout is meticulous, including 300 extras in period wear for a pivotal racecourse scene. While this history lesson certainly has sparkle and style in abundance, Fontaine's script, co-written with her sister Camille in colla, boration with Christopher Hampton (Dangerous Liaisons), keeps the emotion buttoned up. There's no clear sense of Gabrielle as a standard bearer for successive generations of women, who yearned to break into the patriarchal fashion industry. Also, tumultuous events prior to the climactic catwalk feel, rather rushed; the central character's grief lost in a swirl of silks and glittering necklaces. A gloomy opening welcomes the young Gabrielle and her sister to a convent orphanage where the diminutive heroine refuses to believe that her father has abandoned them. "I waited for my father every Sunda, y," she intones in voiceover. "He never came back". Fast-forwarding a few years, Gabrielle (Tautou) and her sister Adrienne (Marie Gillain) earn a meagre living as cabaret performers for drunken soldiers and as seamstresses at the back of a provincial tailor's shop. Gabrielle catches the eye of weal, thy Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde), who installs her as his plaything at a rural retreat, where she befriends renowned actress Emilienne (Emmanuelle Devos), who is enamoured with the gamine newcomer's unusual fashion sense. Swimming against the tide of frou frou and extravagance, Gabrielle dress, es in the attire of her lover, Englishman Arthur 'Boy' Capel (Alessandro Nivola), who intends to spirit her away from Etienne and his coterie as soon as he returns to France. Alas, fate has other plans. Coco Before Chanel takes a few liberties with historical accuracy but remains largely true to fac, t, exploring the relationship between Gabrielle and her benefactor. Tautou looks uncannily like the couturier and gels nicely with Poelvoorde. The bond with Devos is nicely played too but Nivola fails to generate any sparks of chemistry with his leading lady, leading us to question whether Gabrielle, is truly a woman in love. Production values are high throughout and Fontaine's film doesn't outstay its welcome, culminating in a triumphant fashion parade and a rare smile from a woman who had to fight tooth and chipped nail for every success.
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