Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel lived a fascinating and interesting life and while this film depicting her life looks as elegant as a Chanel design scratch a little way under the surface and you’ll be left a little disappointed. The glossy finish isn’t enough to cover for the fact that the film seems to just brush over so off the more important points of Chanel’s life… something that grows increasingly frustrating as the character is set up well enough that you will actually care about her.
‘Coca avant Chanel’ follows the life of Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel (Audrey Tautou), a woman who changed the face of women’s fashion forever and set up a dynasty that still survives today. The film follows her from the time that her father drops her off at a convent and never returns. We then see her putting on a cabaret show with her sister, Adrienne Chanel (Marie Gillain) while also working as a seamstress. While Coco (as she playfully nicknamed) is stunned at her sister falling for ‘The Baron’ she soon finds herself involved in a somewhat-twisted-relationship with Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde), an older rich military man who has made his money through race horses. While some would say that Coco uses Etienne to climb the social ladder she eventually falls in love Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel (Alessandro Nivola). While Etienne encourages Coco to make hats for the upper-class it is Boy who helps her build her empire.
Director, Anne Fontaine does a wonderful job giving this film the feel of a glossy ‘Vogue’ magazine that is heavily influenced by the cinematography of films like ‘Mansfield Park’ or ‘Pride Or Prejudice’. But unfortunately Fontaine is badly let down by a script that seems to just brush over some of the more important things that occurred in Chanel’s life. The other annoying aspect of the film is that the timeline (or more importantly the length of the timeline) is seemingly non-existent. It is impossible to tell how long Coco lived with Etienne, how long her relationship with Boy went for or even how old she is when the film ends. This major flaw simply leaves the audience feeling frustrated despite the films magnificent ‘glossy’ look.
Audrey Tautou was certainly the right choice to play Coco, and we should all breathe a sigh of relief that Keira Knightley didn’t get the role (she was the originally choose for the role). Tautou brings an air of grace to this role and despite her brilliant performance you do feel the weaknesses in the script will see that she won’t win an Oscar for it.
Unfortunately ‘Coco avant Chanel’ is just like a fashion magazine; glossy and lovely to look at but just not enough substance to leave you completely satisfied, a pity really as Coco Chanel’s life deserves to be told in a way fitting to her succsess.
Year: 2009
Director: Snne Fontaine
Stars: Audrey Tautou, Marie Gillain, Benoit Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola
Classification: M
Runtime: 105 mins
Rating:
