 |
| IMDB |
COCO BEFORE CHANEL (2009)
Coco Avant Chanel
French with English Subtitles
Audrey Tautou
Benoit Poelvoorde
Alessandro Nivola
Marie Fillain
Writers:
Edmonde Charles-Roux (book),
Anne Fontaine, Camille Fontaine
Directed by Anne Fontaine
Link to trailer and Interview with Massachusetts Native, Allessandro Nivola (Phillips Exeter, Yale)
Link to a photo essay of Coco Chanel by Paola Mastromatteo Leteo
Coco Before Chanel is the story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, who began her life as headstrong orphan, and through an extraordinary journey became the legendary couturier who embodied the modern woman and became a timeless symbol of success, freedom and style. The film portrays the formative years of Chanel's life, the years of Chanel spent discovering and inventing herself.
Coco Before Chanel (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Fair Use
Coco Before Chanel is directed by Anne Fontaine from a screenplay by Anne Fontaine and Camille Fontaine, with collaboration of Christopher Hampton , loosely based on L'irrégulière (Chanel and Her World: Friends, Fashion, and Fame) by Edmonde Charles-Roux. The film is produced by Philippe Carcassonne.
The production was given the support of the Maison CHANEL, who opened their archives and collections. SONYPICTURESCLASSICS
I enjoyed this movie and thought Tautou in particular did a great job with Chanel's mannerisms. Alessandro Nivola stole scene after scene with his cool elegance in the part of Chanel's lover, Arthur "Boy" Capel. I don't know if the characterization as an active and hard working, though mostly dour, killjoy to a smiling lover was as simple as she and Boy coming to an agreement in regards to the consumption and then agreeing on terms of their relationship. But the final scene where Chanel is watching models in her collection glide down a staircase is worth all the preceding minutes.
 |
| Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The problem in understanding someone's life in a book or film is the how it is distilled for the readers' or viewers' consumption: This moment, not that one, portrayed like this visually or in words. A thousand choices. What we see in the end is a minimum second party and sometime further removed version of a life, someone else's understanding.
I was impressed more by the tale of Chanel's life which was marked by sadness, extremely unconventional behavior, tremendous drive, a sense of style based on integrity and comfort, and then great wealth. One hopes she found some happiness after Capel's early, tragic death.
