ALLAN HUNTER at the Movies

THE OSCAR-winning success of La Vie En Rose has sent European filmmakers scurrying in search of similar true-life stories filled with drama and passion. We’ve already seen films about the lives of novelist Francoise Sagan and actress Hildegarde Neff. Now, Coco Before Chanel charts the early years of the woman who would become one of the most influential designers of the 20th century.

Coco Before Chanel begins in 1893 when the ten year-old Gabrielle Chanel (Lisa Cohen) and her sister Adrienne (Ines Bessalem) are deposited at an orphanage by a father who will never return for them. The film’s simplistic philosophy is that her abandonment was the great spur to fame for Chanel.

Fifteen years later Gabrielle (Audrey Tautou) and Adrienne (Marie Gillain) are cabaret performers. The latter dreams of a wealthy husband, the former of success among the bright lights of Paris.

Once Gabrielle gains the nickname of Coco, the film focuses on the friendship with aristocratic admirer Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde) that brought her into high society and the romance with enigmatic Englishman Arthur Capel (Alessandro Nivola) that broke her heart. Throughout the story we can see her start to shape and invent her life in the way she would later create some of her trademark designs.

Although it is very traditional in its structure and execution, Coco Before Chanel has all the virtues of a good, old-fashioned costume drama from beautiful views of the French countryside to the impeccable production design and the quality of the performances.

Best known for her appearances in Amelie and The Da Vinci Code, Audrey Tautou makes an excellent Chanel, playing her with a mixture of sulky determination and gamin grace. The film itself has all the elegance of a Chanel little black dress.

Nationwide release

Director: Anne Fontaine
Cast: Audrey Tautou, Alessandro Nivola, Benoit Poelvoorde, Marie Gillain, Emanuelle Devos
Screenwriters: Anne Fontaine, Camille Fontaine in collaboration with Christopher Hampton, Jacques Fieschi
Certificate: 12A
Running time: 110 mins
Country: France
Year: 2009