About everybody must have seen the sign of inverted C of the famous brand CHANEL, once in there lifetime. Its no mystery that CHANEL is one the most famous and established haute couture brand in the entire fashion world.
Founded by late Gabrielle “Coco” CHANEL, 1909, in Paris France. It was the unconventional dark colors, non curvy and straight silhouette that attracted the early nineties suffocated and uncomfortable women that made CHANEL and Gabrielle a hit of the lifetime. Anne Fontaine directed this master piece called “COCO AVANT CHANEL” or “COCO BEFORE CHANEL” which is based upon the book by Edmonde Charles-Roux, a biographical tale of Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel . Released on 22, April, 2009, Audrey Tautou did noticeable work as Coco chanel but somehow lacks to add depth in the character . Coco Before Chanel was nominated for four BAFTA Awards, three European Film Awards, six Cesar Awards and the Academy Award for Best Costume Design .
Instead of releasing the movie in United states , Warner Bros. let Sony picture handle the release and it was released in Belgium , but movie did good in US grossing over $6 million .It is originally done in French , it marks the personal life during her formative years before her clothing designs made her a celebrity . Plot begins in late eighties – early nineties , the father abandoned young Gabrielle and her sister were dropped in an orphanage . several years after leaving orphanage , Gabrielle started having a dream of becoming a cabaret singer , soon she found herself singing in provincial local clubs with her sister . Gabrielle got her nickname “COCO” from Étienne Balsan (Benoît Poelvoorde), an older aristocrat, whom with she had an unconventional and long relationship. during which she started designing hats for Etienne’s other girlfriends or high class mistresses . But after finding her true love Arther ‘Boy’ Capel (Alessandro Nivola), a young English businessman , she moves out of the relationship with Balsan and started designing cloths under her own brand Chanel.
Movie has been criticized for not covering any part during second World War in which Coco Chanel gained a lot of connections , by helping Nazis . But on other hand movie gained a lot of praise because of the impeccable work done by Catherine Leterrier for costume designs , for which she was nominated for academy award . Bitten by the fashion bug quite early in my life , I was amazed that how graciously Catherine secured the actual style of Coco from the very beginning till the end , Catherine made no mistakes in using the support she got from the Chanel and the appreciation they got it from Karl Lagerfeld . There was minimum use of ribbon and heavy laces , it was the rebellious style with the maximum use of black that took movie to another level . My personal favorite were two dresses worn by Audery . One was at the ball dance with aurther Capel , where she worn a black strapless gown ( she looked amazing ) , and secondly was the 2 – piece dress , which was the actual outfit of the Coco Chanel , that was worn at the end of the film in the actual house of Coco Chanel .
As the name of the movie itself depicts COCO BEFORE CHANEL , movie only revolves around the troubled life of Coco and her obsession for gender smashing the cloths and as already said that it does not through any light on her life after Chanel . and that should not be the reason for not watching this movie , it might was not the expected but it definitely was a good piece work . conclusively i must say that it was a handsome movie and had all what do you need in a movie……