Wick's Review

Summary - Very Good 3.5

Coco Before Chanel is a well mounted biopic of iconic fashion queen Coco Chanel.

This simply fashioned, handsome movie reveals her humble origins & early successes. Hmm.
Simple & revealing brings to mind – why yes – the Chanel design aesthetic. The movie suits its subject.

Chanel fans looking to revel in her professional triumphs will come away largely disappointed however. Other than a brief coda,¹ the movie ends at the beginning of her career, focusing on her early rise, her revolutionary design aesthetic and the emergence of her ideas for the Little Black Dress & suits on women. Also shown to be important: taking not just one but two millionaire lovers, since even a woman of Coco Chanel’s brilliance and drive couldn’t succeed on her own in early 20th century France.

Two lovers? Mais bien sûr!² Both millionaires? After the first, the second came easily, Darling.³

PS – If you’re interested in this movie, you’re probably also interested in Coco & Igor, its inadvertent sequel.

¹ Of a late period fashion show full of her signature suits.

² But of course!

³ Given Chanel’s success with wealthy lovers, it’s no wonder that the star of How to Marry a Millionaire became the first Chanel No. 5 spokesmodel. Asked what she wore to bed, Marilyn Monroe replied “Why, Chanel No. 5, of course.” It doesn’t get hotter than that.

Acting - Very Good 3.5

Audrey Tautou easily inhabits the mercurial Coco Chanel, playing her as largely dour yet capable of flashes of joy. Ironically and in a testament to her acting skill, Tautou shot to international stardom playing a character (Amélie) the opposite of this.

Alessandro Nivola – previously seen as a snotty rich footballer in Goal and its even more-of-the-same sequel cleverly titled Goal II – continues his varied international career, here playing understated as the younger of her two millionaire lovers. This American actor learned French to play the part of a French-speaking Brit. Born and bred in Boston, Nivola tends to play Europeans on screen, notwithstanding his ultimo Italiano name.

Also notable is Benoît Poelvoorde who plays the elder of her two millionaire lovers.

Film - Very Good 3.5

Check out the poster above to see how the film captures Chanel’s look and feel: The style queen sits haughtily in her man’s cut PJs, cigarette high in hand. That’s Coco. That’s Chanel.

Edge - Tame 1.2

Reality - Glib 1.1

Woman’s fashions are hardly my bailiwick, but color me intrigued by Chanel’s manifold and enduring design achievements: the Chanel suit, the Little Black Dress, the modern turn away from frivolous adornment she led (How huge is that?). Citing Wikipedia “Her extraordinary influence on fashion was such that she was the only person in the field to be named on TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people of the 20th century.”

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