Coco avant Chanel - L'amore prima del mito

Coco avant Chanel focuses, quite literally, on the roots of Coco before the whole Chanel business.

I noted the movie seemed to frustrate those with no grasp of the French language at all. Many seemed to go in unaware that the movie was set before her 'Chanel' days and I couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment at the end from others; via looking at their faces, overhearing conversations and talking with friends. It's interesting, but it does plod on very slowly.

We are treated to a very rude, harsh character in Coco. Full credit goes to Audrey Tautou for her performance though. She really does fit into this movie's feel and tone very well. Her cheeky performance is definitely a highlight.

I don't know what to make of Alessandro Nivola as 'Boy'. The character was and looked rather sleazy. I'm not sure if that was meant or if that was Alessandro. Other than that, mentions go to Benoît Poelvoorde for his solid performance and Emmanuelle Devos as the sexy and self-assured Emilienne d'Alençon.

Other than that, it's a solid biopic. 7/10

COCO AVANT CHANEL simply means Coco's life before Chanel as we know her now. So here is a film about her 'then'. This very well produced film has many pluses and two glaring and irritating minuses. On the plus side we have a costly film that displays delicious art direction and production values with lavish or complicated vintage scenes set in extravagant re creationed times or within gorgeous mansions and breathtaking seaside locations... all with superb costumes. However, this film, more about an hour of its running time suffers from the same annoying factors that spoiled the recent film MA VIE EN ROSE, the bio pic of Edith Piaf: 1: a cranky and rude personality who is ungrateful when benefactors assist and 2: idiotic photography closeups where the hand held camera darts about between people talking or following someone's hands when they are doing something eg: Coco is at a table sewing so the camera is gawking about in closeup of her reaching for things. There are several grand set pieces: racetrack and ballroom magnificence, well dressed and filmed and a fashion sequence later in the story that is (again) all too brief. The first 40 minuets of orphanage and cabaret misery and rudeness mirror LA VIE EN ROSE too much and only later when Coco falls in love with "Boy" (Alessandro Nivola) and they romance by the sea does the film lighten a bit and she actually for a few minutes becomes likable. Oherwise it is Gallic aloofness well dressed but at odds with allowing the audience in too far.

I love Chanel. I can't actually afford the clothes, but that won't stop me from liking them. Just like reading one or two bad reviews didn't stop me from wanting to see 'Coco Avant Chanel'.

The first part of the movie seemed very promising. It didn't take me long to like Coco's character, and everything seemed to have a reasonable pace. Then the movie zooms in on Coco's relationship with 'Boy' and you keep hoping things get interesting, but they don't.

I spent most of the movie admiring the wonderful atmosphere while the lovebirds exchanged meaningful looks. I would have liked this movie more if it paid more attention to things like Coco's hat shop, rather than a relationship of which we all know the ending anyway.

The best thing about this movie is the wonderful atmosphere, but if you don't like slow romance you can skip this one.

It may be a subject that will not automatically appeal to many. However, this movie is certainly worth watching.

Audrey Tautou, complete with all the mannerisms and dark looks of Coco Chanel, plays a magnificent role. We start of at the miserable beginning of Gabrielle Chanel's life, in an orphanage. It quickly becomes clear that this is not the story about some high-society woman who got bored and decided to make clothes in a style that was unheard of at that time, even for people who don't know anything about the life of Coco Chanel. We see her, slowly but surely, clawing her way up in society, using her charm and wit, but most of all: her outspokenness, always telling what she thinks.

Cinematographically, this film is outstanding too. Throughout the film, certain elements of clothing (black and white patterns, stripes, men's shirts) are shown through an unclear lens, to point out that even the most early views of Coco on fashion were incorporated in her style later.

This film is not just a story about Coco's success, it's also about her struggle to fit in in a society that differed so much from her own opinions, about her losses and heartaches. All in all, we get a complete picture of the icon that is still loved and admired today.

Coco Before Chanel (2009)

Audrey Tatou has had a heck of a time maturing from her astonishing role in Amelie (2001), and if she showed her young true self better in He Loves Me (2002), she faltered badly in The Da Vinci Code. Now, playing the young Coco Chanel, she seems to have some solid footing. Oddly, it is partly by playing a part that requires seriousness, even a dour gloom. It's a solid role and a good performance.

The idea of the story is odd, in a way, because it shows very little of those turning points in Coco Chanel's early career as a fashion maven (and this is what we really are dying to see). This really is before Chanel, the brand, and at first it comes off a little routine, showing the young years, and her trying to get out of having to do silly song and dance acts. Eventually she moves up and meets people of influence (the two always go together, don't they?), and turns a corner by making hats for some well off women who have taken to them, and to her.

What makes the movie interesting is Chanel's relationships with other men, two in particular, and in the general libertine scene she found herself joining, if not always liking. She does find love, maybe twice (one more paternal, replacing the father who abandoned her as a child). And all three male actors are spot-on believable.

As is Tatou. The whole affair is interesting but with little magic or surprise. It's well made and well paced and you won't get drowsy, but expect a routine exploration. And learn something about a truly self-made woman who would change the look of the Twentieth Century, head to toe.