Coco avant Chanel (2009)

Director:

Anne Fontaine

Writers:

Edmonde Charles-Roux (book)
Anne Fontaine (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 2009 (Belgium)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Before she was France's famous mademoiselle...

Plot:

The story of Coco Chanel's rise from obscure beginnings to the heights of the fashion world.

Plot Keywords:

Orphanage | Fashion | Hat | Nickname | Horse Racing

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Audrey Tautou	...	Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel
Benoît Poelvoorde	...	Étienne Balsan
Alessandro Nivola	...	Arthur 'Boy' Capel
Marie Gillain	...	Adrienne Chanel
Emmanuelle Devos	...	Emilienne d'Alençon
Régis Royer	...	Alec, le jockey
Etienne Bartholomeus	...	Maître d'hôtel Balsan
Yan Duffas	...	Maurice de Nexon
Fabien Béhar	...	Patron boutique
Roch Leibovici	...	Jean, le palefrenier
Jean-Yves Chatelais	...	Directeur beuglant
Pierre Diot	...	Acteur théâtre
Vincent Nemeth	...	Gros homme théâtre
Bruno Abraham-Kremer	...	Tailleur Deauville
Lisa Cohen	...	Gabrielle Chanel, 10 ans

Also Known As:

Coco Before Chanel (UK) (USA)
Untitled Coco Chanel Project (France) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and smoking.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Netherlands:AL | South Korea:15 | Ireland:12A | Hong Kong:IIA | USA:PG-13 (certificate #45445) | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Japan:G | Argentina:13 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:G (Québec) | Sweden:Btl | Australia:PG | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

Normandie, France

Company:

Haut et Court

Trivia:

Keira Knightley was offered the role of Coco Chanel.

Goofs:

Continuity: When looking out on the English Chanel on the beach in Deauville, Coco is wearing a heavy overcoat. Moments later when "Boy" joins her, the overcoat is gone.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (2009-09-26)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Little Black Baby

Coco before Chanel

"Coco before Chanel" is exactly that; the life of an impoverished girl up until the start of what became a fashion empire.

This I must say is a different kind of a biopic. There was some sort of subtleness about it, everything was going too slow and not much was happening in terms of demonstrating that this hopeless little girl from nowhere had this extraordinary talent for cloth-making. Yes we did see her advocating simplicity in times of great extravagance and even dressing up (probably) her first clients but had the viewer not been aware of the brand "Chanel" he or she would have to wait until the finishing titles to realise Coco turned out to become a fashion icon.

If there is one thing about Coco is that she was a rebel; in a late 19th century puritan society she stood up for what she believed, refused to get married and instead of settling for a wedlock with a rich spouse she chose to live the adventure, go to Paris and start up a hat shop.

It seems however that her rebellious nature extended to her design skills. To use her own words: "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance." Coco Chanel always kept the clothing she designed simple, comfortable and revealing. Unlike most designers in that Europe, she kept the woman inside the clothes at the center of her creations. "I gave women a sense of freedom; I gave them back their bodies: bodies that were drenched in sweat, due to fashion's finery, lace, corsets, underclothes, padding." Perhaps it was fate or desperation from her impoverished upbringing but the affair with the playboy millionaire and, later, his best friend were pivotal to give her the push she needed to make a start. Though not an expert on French upper class culture but were quite impressed how civilized and elegant the two men were when it came to loving and pursuing the same woman.

All in all a decent film but no wow factor.