Coco Before Chanel 時尚女王香奈兒

In the beginning of the movie we see Coco rise from humble beginnings. The film starts off on a rather dark note, with Chanel being literally carted off to an orphanage along with her sister.

Later on, Gabriella Chanel earns her nickname as “Coco” while working as a saloon singer performing to an indifferent and drunken audience. When she becomes involved in an affair with millionaire Etienne Balsan, she then begins her gradual climb up the social ladder. Charming and witty, Coco manages to make friends in high places, but at the same time she never becomes part of the crowd.

Coco's love affairs with the two wealthy men in the movie create a dynamic tension throughout the film. Belgian actor Benoît Poelvoorde breathes life into his character as Etienne Balsan, an immature though savvy playboy who grows to appreciate Coco too late. On the other hand, Alessandro Nivola delivers a rather lack-luster performance as Arthur “Boy” Capel, Chanel's one great love, coming off as slightly greasy instead of dashing and romantic.

The film progresses as if gliding on ice. Like most French films, “Coco Avant Chanel” is beautifully shot, but it doesn't advance much further beyond that. It goes relatively smoothly, like a scoop of ice-cream down your throat, but in the end you're left wanting just a little bit more to savor.

There isn't a lot of drama in the film, though there is passion portrayed in a couple of risqué scenes. There isn't a lot of humor, either, though Tautou occasionally makes the audience laugh with her outspokenness and free-spirited personality. And even though most of the movie takes place in Duke Balsan's beautiful, glittery chateau, it is missing the sense of glamour you would expect to go with such a setting.

As a biopic, “Coco Avant Chanel” is slightly lacking as Anne Fontaine was quite selective about the events shown, so viewers shouldn't expect to leave the cinema having seen the full life of Coco Chanel. Furthermore, fashion connoisseurs expecting the viewing experience to resemble front row seats at a Chanel fashion show are also going to be disappointed, as Fontaine barely lingers on Chanel's achievements as a fashion designer.

One thing that Anne Fontaine manages to capture and bring to light is Coco's individuality and unique persona; there are a lot of long-shots of Tautou standing against a grassy expanse, or in a secluded corner in a crowded room. Tautou as Chanel never seems able to fit in, or meld into the crowd; she carries with her an otherworldly aura of elegance that is at once fragile and at the same time domineering.

A critic of women's fashion of her time, Chanel was a revolutionary modernist; she liberated the woman's body from corsets, padding, and heavy layers of underclothes, and instead took inspiration from menswear to create simplistic designs that were practical and form-fitting, without losing their femininity.

Though Chanel's distinctive sense of style is apparent in the movie, the different fashions of the era are only glanced upon when Tautou makes a clever comment to scoff at “fancy cakes,” her description of fashion victims.

Coco Chanel famously said: “Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance.” Fontaine's film very much echoes Chanel's belief, its elegance is reflected in its narrative structure, plot, and progression; but despite this, the film is not memorable. Rather than a biopic, “Coco Avant Chanel” eventually comes off as more of a preview.

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