Anne Fontaine‘s film ‘Coco avant Chanel‘ (the English title is ‘Coco Before Chanel‘) has three serious reasons to be a movie that I like. Their names are Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde and Emmanuelle Devos. Two actresses and an actor who, from my point of view, can’t go wrong on screen and who turn every movie they act in into a delight. Here, too, the three did not disappoint me, but still, this story of the becoming the famous fashion designer Coco Chanel from childhood in an orphanage to the launch of her fabulous career was not up to my expectations. It is a very well made and aesthetically beautiful film, it has some interesting ideas, but it lacks something essential: emotion.
The story follows quite faithfully the rules of the biopic genre. For Gabrielle Chanel (the future Coco – Audrey Tautou), abandoned as a child together with her sister in an orphanage, there were not many alternatives to getting out of poverty at the end of the 19th century. The social comment on women’s status is critical and acute, and we know it well from the novels of Emile Zola and other writers of the time. To overcome her status as a worker in a tailor’s shop, Gabrielle will become the mistress of a wealthy horse owner, Etienne Balsan (played by Benoît Poelvoorde), dreaming of becoming a cabaret actress or a singer. Meanwhile, in order to supplement her income, she begins to create hats and especially to look critically at the exuberant but extremely impractical and uncomfortable dresses of the women in high society. The story advances describing in parallel the sentimental life of the heroine involved in a love triangle with Balsan and Boy Capel, a rich Englishman (played by Alessandro Nivola) and the transformation of her side occupation from a simple craft into a creative activity with a personal vision that was to turn tailoring into art and would influence the lives of 20th century women. When the love story ends, the formidable career of Coco Chanel will begin.
Audrey Tautou‘s role in ‘Amélie‘ was so memorable that it is almost inevitable that anything she did afterwards will be compared to that role. Her character in ‘Coco avant Chanel‘ is very different from Amelie. Gabrielle faces social barriers in both her private and professional life, defeating them not by means of kindness but with determination, being endowed with the inner strength of the lonely individuals hit early in life, which will allow her to overcome tragedies and break through to success. This kind of people or characters do not externalize, you have to look deep into their eyes to read their feelings. Benoît Poelvoorde is excellent in the role of Balzan, the wealthy and decadent bourgeois, with a deep superficiality. Emmanuelle Devos appears in a supporting role that she undertakes brilliantly, playing the character of the actress who begins by being the idol of Gabrielle / Coco, then becoming her social mentor, encouraging her talent and gaining her friendship (or maybe more than that). Director Anne Fontaine was very attentive to details and the film looks good and authentic. But the passion is missing, too often the characters behave predictably, they fail to put enough life behind the stereotypes. ‘Coco avant Chanel‘ is not a bad film, but it is positioned too close to the docu-drama and too far from an original artistic vision, which is exactly what characterized the art of Coco Chanel.