Cabba's ReviewsCoco Chanel
July 6th 2009 14:31
Coco Avant Chanel is one of those rare films that really touches your spirit and carries your emotional essence on a journey of strength, love and determination by one strong-willed woman, Coco Chanel. I have always wondered about the woman that started the most famous fashion brand in the world, about how she started it all, about how she was as a person and how she story. This film definitely answers all of those questions regarding who she was as a person even if it is hyperbolised to satisfy/entertain a film audience. It really successfully details Coco Chanel's life from beginning til when she reveals her first fashion collection to the Parisian public, and does so in a convincing and elegant manner.
What I really liked about this film was that although the film itself is only just over an hour and a half, the screen time travels over a span of a couple of years, and makes it seem effortless. I did not at any time while watching the film, stop and think..."wait a minute. wasn't she 16 just a couple of minutes ago?". The time travel in the film was edited in such a seamless way that the filmmaker managed to fit the entire early life of Coco Chanel into a 2 hour film. The other thing I loved was the emotional coherency throughout the film. The film is such a gentle film, and for it to sustain Audrey Tautou's emotions throughout the film in a coherent manner, as to not jolt or awaken the audience from their belief was a true feat. Her character's mood swings, her complacency, her anguish and her love all smoothly intertwine with one another to create an intricate web of Coco Chanel's complex mindframe.
Now, I am a huge huge HUGE fan of Audrey Tautou! She's just one of those elegant ladies who seems so effortlessly gorgeous and is just beautiful in every role she's ever played. Obviously adorable in Amelie, she again does a fantastic job as Coco Chanel in this film, giving Coco a real sense of determination and character. I'm sure to be as successful as Coco Chanel was during the early 1900s in Paris as a woman, she would've had to be a tough cookie, Tautou really gives Chanel that extra adorable arrogance yet fragility to the character. Her love, hate relationship with the Baron really highlighted her desperate situation but at the same time her ability to be a burden but a burden the man had to have.
Chanel's eccentricity is highlighted above all else in the film, with the film mainly focusing on how different she was from other women and how sophisticated her fashion palette was. It would've been stupid to say that the film did not very obviously advertise Chanel further by making it out to be even more elegant as it already is established. The entire film was pretty much screaming "BUY CHANEL CLOTHING. IT'S WORTH BUYING A SHIRT FOR $5000 BECAUSE THE WOMAN WHO STARTED THE BRAND WAS SO SOPHISTICATED".
I felt another one of its strong points was the script. The dialogue (although translated from French into English) was so strong and snappy and so very clever. Each and every line seemed to jump off the page and made me smile. This quality writing served the characters well, making them almost seem unattainable due to their wit and charm. This I suppose adds to the unattainable, expensive allure of Chanel the brand.
Overall, the film was such a romantic love story and the fluctuating heartbreaks of one of the most famous fashion icons/brands the world has ever known. Go watch this film, even if its romantic and mushy. It'll transport you to another world of charm, poise and elegance.
4.5 STARS OUT OF 5.
Peace out.
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