Coco avant Chanel
Yesterday evening after a fun dinner at Vapiano we spontaneously checked to see if there was a movie worth going to in the cinema at the other end of the square (the one where I watched P&P with fiorelina). We already went to "The Reader" (it pleased me that it was still on!), and didn't feel like going to "Duplicity" since I'm one of those few people who isn't particularly fond of Clive Owens and is not that keen on Julia Roberts either nowadays, so we chose "Coco avant Chanel" with Audrey Tautou. Hm... a bit disappointing actually. Bernard was bored, the man at my other side was sleeping and I had to yawn an awful lot... The movie is about Chanel's earlier years before she became one of France's fashion icons. In fact she wasn't much more than a courtesan, being kept by a rich chatelain. I'm not judging that, it's perfectly understandable. Her sister and she were orphans and they had nowhere to go when grown up. They sang (badly) in cafés and during the day they worked as seamstresses. In the end she manages to start her own hat atelier with borrowed money from her lover Arthur Capel, "Boy", who will later die in a car accident.
What I liked about the film were the subtle hints at objects, colours and stuff that inspired Coco at a young age already. It's subtly and gradually done through her eyes seeing what's interesting to use, the eyes of Audrey Tautou of course. So, the 'look' of the movie - to stick within fashion termes - was very nice. The camerawork was often terrible. It must have been a conscious choice to make use of a shoulder camera a lot, but I don't like it. The same was done in 'Rachel getting married'. It makes me dizzy. Furthermore I didn't like the fast forwarding of the movie... From her hat atelier in the twenties, we find ourselves suddenly in the sixties at a grand Chanel fashion show. Titles inform the viewer about the rest of her life. Such a pity, she was already famous in the twenties, and not only for her hats. She was the first to create her own perfume, of which No. 5 is still one of the most popular!... And not a word - or scene - about her famous friends such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Odilon Redon, Auguste Renoir, Marcel Proust, puis Erik Satie, Colette... etc. The makers skipped WWII in which she associated with a Nazi officer, a thing the French prefer to hide perhaps as to not stain the reputation of their queen of fashion.
As for the cast, I was not impressed. Actually I only liked Benoît Poelvoorde as Étienne Balsan, a rather silly if not stupid, anything but intellectual, rich guy who passes his days at the horse races and partying, and thinks he owns her... Audrey Tautou's striking eyes must do it all, 'cause the rest of her face and body do not act that well, I think. I have only seen five movies with her, but there are only two in which I think she was fabulous: 'Amélie' and 'Un long dimanche de fiançailles', and they're quite old now. There was little chemistry between Audrey and Allessandro Nivola as Boy, with whom Coco was supposed to have a passionate relationship. Her smiles were fake (of course they are, she's acting, but one mustn't get that impression), her manners stiff.
I expected nothing when entering the theatre, since I didn't even know that the movie existed. I can't say I didn't enjoy myself, 'cause I did despite my critique. But it's not a movie I would like to watch again.
What I liked about the film were the subtle hints at objects, colours and stuff that inspired Coco at a young age already. It's subtly and gradually done through her eyes seeing what's interesting to use, the eyes of Audrey Tautou of course. So, the 'look' of the movie - to stick within fashion termes - was very nice. The camerawork was often terrible. It must have been a conscious choice to make use of a shoulder camera a lot, but I don't like it. The same was done in 'Rachel getting married'. It makes me dizzy. Furthermore I didn't like the fast forwarding of the movie... From her hat atelier in the twenties, we find ourselves suddenly in the sixties at a grand Chanel fashion show. Titles inform the viewer about the rest of her life. Such a pity, she was already famous in the twenties, and not only for her hats. She was the first to create her own perfume, of which No. 5 is still one of the most popular!... And not a word - or scene - about her famous friends such as Toulouse-Lautrec, Odilon Redon, Auguste Renoir, Marcel Proust, puis Erik Satie, Colette... etc. The makers skipped WWII in which she associated with a Nazi officer, a thing the French prefer to hide perhaps as to not stain the reputation of their queen of fashion.
As for the cast, I was not impressed. Actually I only liked Benoît Poelvoorde as Étienne Balsan, a rather silly if not stupid, anything but intellectual, rich guy who passes his days at the horse races and partying, and thinks he owns her... Audrey Tautou's striking eyes must do it all, 'cause the rest of her face and body do not act that well, I think. I have only seen five movies with her, but there are only two in which I think she was fabulous: 'Amélie' and 'Un long dimanche de fiançailles', and they're quite old now. There was little chemistry between Audrey and Allessandro Nivola as Boy, with whom Coco was supposed to have a passionate relationship. Her smiles were fake (of course they are, she's acting, but one mustn't get that impression), her manners stiff.
I expected nothing when entering the theatre, since I didn't even know that the movie existed. I can't say I didn't enjoy myself, 'cause I did despite my critique. But it's not a movie I would like to watch again.