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Before she became Coco, the world-famous fashion designer, Gabrielle Chanel (Audrey Tautou in a fiercely determined performance) struggled to make ends meet. After her mother's death, her father deposited her and her sister, Adrienne (Marie Gillain), at an orphanage, where they learned to sew (and where Chanel developed a taste for monochromatic ensembles). They went on to become cabaret singers, but when Adrienne runs off with a wealthy suitor, the newly christened Coco must go it alone until she meets gentleman farmer Étienne Balsan (Benoît Poelvoorde). She lives comfortably at his chateau, but he refuses to take her out in public, so she puts her skills as a seamstress to good use and designs outfits for his lady friends, like Emilienne (Emmanuelle Devos), an actress. Chanel's situation improves further when British investor Arthur "Boy" Capel (Alessandro Nivola with an impeccable French accent) enters the scene. Her working-class origins present less of a problem with Capel, though the couple will have other issues with which to contend. In the meantime, he gives her the money to open her own Parisian studio, and the film ends with the tweed suit-clad Chanel of the popular imagination. Until that time, writer-director Anne Fontaine (The Girl from Monaco) presents a very different character, a woman who wasn't worldly or sophisticated, but who saw no reason why fashion--or "style," as she called it--should be complicated or uncomfortable. In transforming herself, Coco Chanel transformed an entire industry and, arguably, an entire gender. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
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Most helpful customer reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Before Coco was Coco,
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This review is from: Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
I purchased this Blue Ray for my wife's birthday not for myself. I must admit that I was expecting to be bored but when I sat down to watch it with my wife I was not, I found the movie held my interest all the way through. I found myself thinking "how is she going to go from this situation to become rich & famous". Well I found out, the beginning of it anyway.The name was familiar to me, mostly from Chanel #5 I think, but I had no idea who she really was or her background (or age), & while I cannot speak to the historical accuracy the story was really fascinating. Audrey Tatou's performance was outstanding, not at all the type of "cute" role I have seen her in before, but she pulled it off well. I like period films & I really enjoyed this. Out of 10 I would rate it a 8-9. Be careful which edition you buy. Mistakenly I got the French edition with English subtitles. Since I read fast it was OK but subtitles really turn some people off so be careful, Amazon's decription is not too clear on this point.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Tautou shines as always,
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This review is from: Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
Directed by Anne FontaineStarring Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde and Alessandro Nivola 110 minutes French language with optional English subtitles Video Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video resolution: 1080p Aspect ratio: 2.35:1 Audio French: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Subtitles: English (optional) This is a film about individuality more than anything. There are elements of romance and some observations on how people use each other, but it's really about how a young woman chooses to be who she wants to be rather than who she's expected to be. The film opens in a music hall setting with Coco (Tautou) singing a duet with her sister. Wealthy men use the place as a hunting ground for mistresses or prostitutes. Coco befriends Etienne Balsan, who is much older than her, but offers her the chance to spend time with a higher social class. She mixes with his upper class friends and is at first ridiculed and described as a boy because of the clothes she wears. She doesn't buy into the trend of wearing traditional dresses, corsets, giant hats or clothes designed to show off her body. She chooses an almost masculine style that's very plain by comparison. She eventually gains a kind of acceptance and befriends an actress (Emmanuelle Devos) who takes her advice about what to wear. Coco is not content to spend her days subservient to the idle rich and wants to work. This is frowned upon by her snooty acquaintances, but she's determined to pursue her own course. The film shows how friendships can develop in unlikely situations and includes a romance between Coco and Boy (Nivola), who is genuinely touched by her. I guess that all sounds a bit girly, doesn't it? Well, like Coco, I follow my own path and like what I like. The highlight of the film is the performance of Audrey Tautou. I've been enchanted by her in a number of films such as Amelie, A Very Long Engagement, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, The DaVinci Code and Dirty Pretty Things. She was the perfect choice for the part because she's somewhat similar to Coco in that she follows her own path. Not what most people consider attractive, but incredibly beautiful. Her face is capable of showing so much emotion. She can transition from pure joy to sorrow. If she had chosen to work in English-speaking roles, she would probably be a huge star with multiple awards. Again, she was the perfect choice for the role. The Blu-ray is in the native French and offers the choice to see the film with or without subtitles. The presentation is decent and really comes alive in the shots of the French countryside. I wouldn't recommend this film to everyone. It's not for those who need thrills or action in every scene. It moves slowly and is quite thought provoking. I found it fascinating and a surprisingly plausible account of Coco's early life.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very Charming,
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This review is from: Coco Avant Chanel (Coco Before Chanel) [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)
Coco Avant Chanel is a charming biographical film about the early life of Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, tracing her early years from childhood abandoment at a convent, through to her time as a mistress of wealthy men. Coco Avant Chanel would be just an ordinary art house biopic except for the charming performance of the always lovely Audrey Tantou. As expected the look of the movie is wonderful. The costumes are especially well done and I loved the fact that the costume designer gave Chanel's early experiments with her personal style the feel of being handmade and improvised instead of being finished costumes. After all, this movie isn't just about Chanel's early love affairs but also dipictes of the evolution of the personal style of arguably fashion's great innovator. The film richly deserved the Oscar nomination for costume design.
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