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Coco Before Chanel
(2009)
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Title: Coco Before Chanel (2009)
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Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Audrey Tautou | ... | ||
| Benoît Poelvoorde | ... | ||
| Alessandro Nivola | ... | ||
| Marie Gillain | ... | ||
| Emmanuelle Devos | ... | ||
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Régis Royer | ... | |
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Etienne Bartholomeus | ... | |
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Yan Duffas | ... | |
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Fabien Béhar | ... |
Patron boutique
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Roch Leibovici | ... |
Jean, le palefrenier
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Jean-Yves Chatelais | ... | |
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Pierre Diot | ... | |
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Vincent Nemeth | ... | |
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Bruno Abraham-Kremer | ... | |
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Lisa Cohen | ... | |
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Plot Summary
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Storyline
Several years after leaving the orphanage to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, earning the nickname Coco from the song she sings nightly with her sister. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entrée into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats. When she falls in love with English businessman Arthur Capel further opportunities open up, though life becomes ever more complicated. Written by Jeremy Perkins {J-26}
Taglines:
Before she was France's famous mademoiselle...Parents Guide:
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Details
Release Date:
22 April 2009 (France) See more »Also Known As:
Coco Before Chanel See more »Box Office
Budget:
€19,430,000 (estimated)Opening Weekend:
$177,399 (USA) (25 September 2009)Gross:
$6,109,075 (USA) (5 February 2010)Company Credits
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Technical Specs
Runtime:
| (cable)Color:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1
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[subtitled version of French dialog]
Nun: Girls who have visitors, follow me.
Gabrielle Chanel, 10 ans: Come on. Come on, let's go.
Adrienne Chanel, 10 ans: I don't want to.
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
From 1934 to 1971 Coco Chanel made the Hotel Ritz, Paris, France her home. A suite, in honor of her memory, has been named after her: the Coco Chanel Suite. See more »Goofs
Costume continuity during the scene where "Boy" allows Coco Chanel to drive the motorcar. When they eventually stop the car, Coco is wearing a white scarf which she was not wearing when she first got into the car. See more »Quotes
[first lines][subtitled version of French dialog]
Nun: Girls who have visitors, follow me.
Gabrielle Chanel, 10 ans: Come on. Come on, let's go.
Adrienne Chanel, 10 ans: I don't want to.
See more »
"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.