COCO BEFORE CHANEL (2009)

Written and Directed by Anne Fontaine


Where & When: Arclight Cinemas, Hollywood, CA. October 20, 2009 5:05PM




Audrey Tautou stars as Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, the French fashion designer who was one of the most influential people of the last century, in "Coco Before Chanel", an intriguing yet listless biopic by director, Anne Fontaine. Chanel was responsible for breaking down the social restraints of the era on what respectable women should wear in public. She would help get them out of the restraining corsets, floor-length dresses and impractical hats and into sailor inspired shirts, comfortable, loose fitting jackets and far shorter skirts (to the knee). But the film's focus is largely on the beginning of the designer's life, long before her success, and is unable to make this chapter fully engaging.

The film begins as her father drops her off at an orphanage as a child after her mother has passed away. Gabrielle waits for her father to come back for her, but he never returns. This leaves the little girl hardened and bitterly disappointed.

Gabrielle is now a young woman (played by Tautou) who is employed as a seamstress, but she dreams of becoming a singer. She sings in a local saloon at night with her sister, Adrienne (Marie Gillain). After a performance, she meets Baron Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde). He's smitten by Gabrielle, but she's not at all interested in him. Balsan begins calling her "Coco" after hearing her sing although she doesn't really appreciate this pet name. But after discovering that this Baron is a very wealthy man, he does begin to become slightly more appealing to her.

After being fired from her job at the saloon and fed up with life in this small-minded town, Gabrielle accepts an invitation to Baron Balsan's immaculate home, intending to only stay for a few days. But her visit ends up being extended indefinitely after she begins keeping him company in bed. This is when Chanel learns to appreciate the lavish lifestyle of the Baron and the beautiful objects in his home. But at his grand parties, she finds herself disdaining these wealthy, vacuous people that populate these events. And at these gatherings, a bored Chanel decided to concoct a fictionalized past for herself, proving to be just as inventive as the clothing she would begin to create.

Taking the Baron's old clothing, Chanel alters them for a new wardrobe for herself. She also created smaller scaled hats that were far different from the elaborate bonnets that other women were wearing at the time. People didn't know what to make of this eccentric person, yet they were also very intrigued by her as well. A friend of the Baron's, Emilienne d'Alencon, (Emmanuelle Devos), an actress, wants Gabrielle to make a hat for her. People love the hat, creating a frenzy to get their hands on a chapeau by Chanel for themselves.

Later at one of the parties, she meets another friend of the Baron's, Arthur "Boy" Capel, (Alessandro Nivola) an English industrialist. They are attracted to each other and soon begin a passionate affair. She tries to resist yet finds herself in love with him. He helps her open a boutique and introduces her to potential new clients. But "Boy" has been keeping a secret from Gabrielle, putting their relationship in jeopardy.

There is no doubt that Chanel lived an exciting and fascinating life. But this film chooses to prioritize only the very beginning of it and in fact, "Coco before Chanel" actually ends when Chanel first achieves significant success as a designer. This early part of her life, while there are moments that are engaging, did not require almost two hours to tell.

The performances are good, and the film is beautifully shot by Christophe Beaucarne yet "Coco Before Chanel" moves at a lethargic pace. This biopic feels overly extended, filled with far too many unnecessary and insignificant details of Chanel's life. There should be a definitive film version made on the revolutionary life of Coco Chanel. Unfortunately, "Coco Before Chanel" is not it.