Coco Before Chanel


Coco Before Chanel is a 2009 biographical drama film directed and co-written by Anne Fontaine. The film stars Audrey Tautou and details the early life of French fashion designer Coco Chanel.
The film was first released on 22 April 2009 in France. As of 21 December that year, it had grossed $43,832,376 worldwide. The production budget was $23 million.
Instead of releasing Coco Before Chanel in the United States itself, Warner Bros. Pictures let Sony Pictures Classics handle the release there. The film grossed $6 million in the United States.
Coco Before Chanel was nominated for four BAFTA Awards, three European Film Awards, six César Awards and the Oscar for Best Costume Design.

Plot

Several years after leaving the orphanage in Aubazine where her father abandoned her, a young Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar. She works as a seamstress for the performers by day and a cabaret singer by night, earning the nickname "Coco" from the song she sings with her sister Adrienne. A liaison with the charismatic Baron Balsan gives her an entry into French high society, and a chance to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats.
Coco falls in love with English businessman Arthur Capel, unaware that he is betrothed to a woman in England. Capel believes in Coco's talent making hats and her refusal to follow the whims of fashion; as he says to Coco, "There's no one else like you". As Coco's business flourishes and life is going well, Capel dies in a car accident; she is devastated. However, Coco still has the business that Capel helped her to start as a reminder of their love.

Cast

Roger Ebert praised the film for its unsentimental approach to Chanel's early years. English critic Philip French found the film handsomely designed, tasteful, and reserved, but rather dull. One hundred twenty-six critics on website Rotten Tomatoes gave the film an average rating of 63%. The film's average on Metacritic from reviewers was 65% as of 2012, with a 69% rating from general users of the website, the consensus reads, "Though it doesn't quite capture the complexity of its subject's life, Coco Avant Chanel remains a fascinating, appropriately lovely tribute".

Accolades

Awards and nominations