AN ICON OF FRENCH CINEMA MEETS AN ICON OF FRENCH FASHION TO ENTRANCING EFFECT AS AUDREY TAUTOU STARS IN THIS ARRESTING CHRONICLE OF THE FORMATIVE YEARS OF COCO CHANEL.
It’s quite a surprise, in fact, to learn that the woman whose eye for beautiful simplicity changed the world’s dress sense actually grew up in an orphanage. Indeed, Anne Fontaine’s film adeptly argues how her outsider’s perspective on the flounce, feathers and froufrou of the gilded age before the Great War was absolutely crucial in forming then-revolutionary notions on liberating women from their corsets and elaborate headgear. Remarkably, a simple straw hat crafted for the day’s leading stage actress Emilienne (Emmanuelle Devos, wonderful as ever) proves the turning point in Coco’s professional life when it becomes the talk of the town. Yet the real thrust of the film lies in the personal sacrifices its driven protagonist makes in the process of remaining her own woman.
Tautou’s performance is really remarkable for the way she generates Coco’s fierce self-belief, rendering her an often surly and abrasive character, yet she also nimbly registers all the hurt and frustration Mlle Chanel has to endure because she’s the social inferior to the wealthy men who both shape her destiny and touch her heart. Benoît Poelvoorde is splendid here as the bluff, horse-riding aristo stoically keeping his true feelings under wraps, while Alessandro Nivola shines too as the urbane English financier Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel who ignites Coco’s passions. Not unexpectedly, the film’s costumed, shot and scored as a model of elegance, but its subtle emotional insights are the sign of a genuine class act. — Trevor Johnston.
There will be a special screening of Coco Before Chanel on July 28th at 6.20pm.