Coco Before Chanel Details

[Highly rated reviewer]

Mesmerising

Mesmerising is the word used in the marketing of this movie and mesmerising it is. Tatou is utterly convincing and stunning in the lead role as a young Coco who rebels against the excesses of French society and somehow combines a fragile vulnerability with a steely toughness. Not an easy trick to pull off but she does so flawlessly. If I say any more I am likely to spoil it for you, but the filming and everything else about it do not disappoint either. A high point in Tatou's already glittering career and harbinger of more great performances to come.

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[Highly rated reviewer]

Coco Before Chanel

One question that I have never asked myself is ‘what did Coco do before Chanel?’ To be honest I’m not a fashion guy (like Extras‘ Andy Millman I sometimes look at my wardrobe and see Jeremy Clarkson looking back at me), it’s not really something that interests me and, had I not got a ticket for a free screening I’m not entirely sure that I would have found myself sat in a cinema watching Coco avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel). Following the early years of Chanel’s life the film looks at her dertermination to succeed and celebrates her role in the liberation of women but as a newcomer to the I was left wondering if the film itself was being slightly generous or if the filmmakers had underplayed their hand by assuming that we all knew what she did. It turns out that it might be a little bit of both.

Whilst the film is hansomely shot and contains some very good performances (Benoit Poelvoorde is rises above all others with his potrayal of the playboy Etienne Balsan) it never really engages, despite the presence of a central character (played by Audrey Tautou) that exudes determination. Part of the problem is that Chanel empowers herself by gaining access to wealth through sleeping with people. Whilst this idea calls into question conflicting ideas of sexual and social power the film itself never really addresses these issues with the exception of some fleeting dialogue between Chanel and Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel (Alessandro Nivola), proported love of her life and financial backer. This is a film of stories and ideas half told. There is also the lingering though that ‘empowerment’ should amount to more than making one a slightly more comfortable clotheshorse.

Oh and then there is World War II… did you know that Chanel hooked up with a Nazi and lived in the Paris Ritz during the war? Neither did I until I read it because it is certainly not mentioned here. Okay, so there is no law that says every life should be covered fully when making a film but, regarding Coco avant Chanel, one can’t help but see how the later ‘behaviour’ (some might say treason) casts new light on the earlier period covered here. Instead of chalking one up for the ladies (as the filmmakers would like you to believe) the grand dame of fashion seems more like an arch self-preservationist than anything else. Challenging the system now seems like simple greed.

Now I don’t know if this is anymore an acurate portrayal of Chanel than the film is (infact I do know because no one is that simple) but had the filmmakers taken a much larger slice of her life then I would be in a much better position to judge.