Coco Avant Chanel (A)
Director: Anne Fontaine
Cast: Audrey Tautou, Benoit Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain, Emmanuelle Devos
Rating: ****
Anne Fontaine’s film about the early life and loves of one of the most iconic figures in fashion, Coco Chanel, is adapted from the book by Edmonde Charles-Roux titledL'Irrégulière ou Mon Itinéraire Chanel. The screenplay has been credited to Anne Fontaine and her team comprising Camille Fonatine, Christopher Hampton and Jacques Fieschi.
Coco Avant Chanel is a biographical tale of Gabrielle Coco Chanel (Tautou) set in a time before she founded the fashion empire. The story dwells mainly on Coco as a person — her orphan years, her romantic dalliances and her foremost ventures into the fashion world. Two men, Etienne Balsan (Poelvoorde) and Boy Capel (Nivola), played significant roles in Coco’s life and their influences helped her lay the foundation for her success.
Fontaine’s focus is on Coco’s entry into the French high-life (via her affair with rich playboy Balsan) and her developing influence on the fashion of that period. Her elegance and simplicity make an impact on the fashionistas led by stage actress Emilienne (Devos) and this helps her raise her status from near destitution to that of the first high priestess of fashion.
The look of the film is exemplary — the turn of the 20th century styles are perfectly rendered with Chanel’s menswear inspired line looking dramatically eccentric yet simple and easy on the eyes. But the mood is never clear.
Coco’s romances, heartbreak and steely determination to make it big are all executed fluidly. The finale is also quite rushed. Her jump from a hat maker to a successful dress designer could have been better showcased.
The cinematography is breath-taking — The landscapes have the look of paintings and the scene settings are eloquently poetic. Christophe Beaucarne’s camera shoots Tautou in mesmerising detail. Tautou’s delicate elegance and fragile beauty lends strength and her soul-wrenching performance gives this film its heart. That is what will draw you to it — if you lack interest in fashion, that is!
—JT
Comments
