Coco avant Chanel (2009)

Director:

Anne Fontaine

Writers:

Edmonde Charles-Roux (book)
Anne Fontaine (writer)

Release Date:

22 April 2009 (Belgium)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Tagline:

Before she was France's famous mademoiselle...

Plot:

The story of Coco Chanel's rise from obscure beginnings to the heights of the fashion world.

Plot Keywords:

Fashion | Nickname | Hat | Orphanage | Costume Party

Awards:

1 win & 4 nominations

Cast

Audrey Tautou	...	Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel
Benoît Poelvoorde	...	Étienne Balsan
Alessandro Nivola	...	Arthur 'Boy' Capel
Marie Gillain	...	Adrienne Chanel
Emmanuelle Devos	...	Emilienne d'Alençon
Régis Royer	...	Alec, le jockey
Etienne Bartholomeus	...	Maître d'hôtel Balsan
Yan Duffas	...	Maurice de Nexon
Fabien Béhar	...	Patron boutique
Roch Leibovici	...	Jean, le palefrenier
Jean-Yves Chatelais	...	Directeur beuglant
Pierre Diot	...	Acteur théâtre
Vincent Nemeth	...	Gros homme théâtre
Bruno Abraham-Kremer	...	Tailleur Deauville
Lisa Cohen	...	Gabrielle Chanel, 10 ans

Also Known As:

Coco Before Chanel (UK) (USA)
Untitled Coco Chanel Project (France) (working title)
Coco antes de Chanel (Argentina) (Peru) [es]
Коко до Шанель (Russia) [ru]
Coco Antes de Chanel (Brazil) [pt]
Coco Avant Chanel (Portugal) [pt]
Coco Chanel (Hungary) [hu]
Coco Chanel (Poland) [pl]
Coco Chanel - Der Beginn einer Leidenschaft (Germany) [de]
Coco Chanel'den önce (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Coco Chanel: Der Beginn einer Leidenschaft (Germany) [de]
Coco avant Chanel (Japan: English title) [en]
Coco avant Chanel - L'amore prima del mito (Italy) [it]
Coco før Chanel (Norway) [no]
Coco før Chanel (Denmark) [da]
Coco livet före Chanel (Sweden) [sv]
Coco, de la rebeldía a la leyenda de Chanel (Spain) [es]
Koko avan Shaneru (Japan) [ja]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for sexual content and smoking.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:AL | South Korea:15 | Ireland:12A | Hong Kong:IIA | USA:PG-13 (certificate #45445) | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Japan:G | Argentina:13 | Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:G (Québec) | Sweden:Btl | Australia:PG | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

Normandie, France

Company:

Haut et Court

Trivia:

Keira Knightley was offered the role of Coco Chanel.

Goofs:

Continuity: Costume continuity during the scene where "Boy" allows Coco to drive the motorcar. When they eventually stop the car, Coco is wearing a white scarf which she was not wearing when she first got into the car.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Angela and Friends: (#1.14)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Little Black Baby

A wonderful atmosphere, but...

I love Chanel. I can't actually afford the clothes, but that won't stop me from liking them. Just like reading one or two bad reviews didn't stop me from wanting to see 'Coco Avant Chanel'.

The first part of the movie seemed very promising. It didn't take me long to like Coco's character, and everything seemed to have a reasonable pace. Then the movie zooms in on Coco's relationship with 'Boy' and you keep hoping things get interesting, but they don't.

I spent most of the movie admiring the wonderful atmosphere while the lovebirds exchanged meaningful looks. I would have liked this movie more if it paid more attention to things like Coco's hat shop, rather than a relationship of which we all know the ending anyway.

The best thing about this movie is the wonderful atmosphere, but if you don't like slow romance you can skip this one.