Presents
GlenVIEWINGS: The Fashionista, The Chef, and The Mom
Coco Before Chanel
“An exceptional future awaits you." Boy Capel
Coco Chanel’s life work captures the essence of modern fashion
design and the invention of a style with profound influence to
this day. Rather than concentrating on the professional life of an
icon who would come to symbolize modern fashion and
international chic, Coco Before Chanel explores the formation
of a young woman's identity, painfully crafted from the raw
materials of a complicated youth.
What emerges most strongly in this film is Chanel's
determination and charisma, even more so than her talent for
fashion. While the name Chanel now immediately signals high
design and wealth, the film begins by showing us an orphan,
turned nightclub singer, turned courtesan. As we watch
Chanel's difficult climb up the social ranks, propelled by
intelligent lies, duplicity, and invented facades, our knowledge
of her past gives us a greater admiration of her inner strength,
and allows us to forgive her contradictions. Struggling to find
her place in the world, and reconcile her feelings for two very
different lovers, the young Chanel is shown to have endured
great drama in the pursuit of her independence. As Chanel,
Audrey Tautou ably conveys a mix of resolve and vulnerability,
discovery, and self‐preservation.
However, the film's depiction of Chanel’s complex romantic
entanglements is well‐matched by the sumptuous elegance of
everything we witness. Many of Chanel's signature inventions
are deftly woven into the narrative or visual palette, and the
verbal sparring is sleek and sharp. Everything is beautiful to
look at and extremely well‐crafted. Yet, by the end, we have
seen that the development of the singular Chanel style was as
much a result of necessity as it was of inspiration and skill, and
that it did not come without a significant emotional price.
Did you know?
• Coco Before Chanel director Anne Fontaine was a
ballerina, actress, and model