Although it shows promise in certain nuances and is thoroughly well designed, Anne Fontaine's ""Coco Before Chanel"" offers a somewhat narratively contrived tale of Gabrielle ""Coco"" Chanel's life before becoming France's legendary fashion designer.
Chanel grows up in an orphanage with her sister after being abandoned by their father. Together they develop a cabaret act, a song about searching for a puppy named Coco, from which Chanel earned her nickname. After her sister wins the affections of a wealthy baron, Chanel realizes what she must do to get where she wants to be: She calls on a wealthy lover of her own to aid her in her quest.
Audrey Tautou (""Amélie"") gives a powerful performance as a seemingly stoic yet fragile Chanel, and Benoît Poelvoorde complements her as her lackadaisical yet cynical and financially supportive lover, Étienne Balsan. These performances, as well as the beautiful cinematography and decadent costumes of turn-of-the-century France, manage to sail over the film's stiltedly manufactured screenplay.
What makes the film most interesting are the moments when it strays from the typical narrative arc of today's biopic. The film initially depicts Chanel as a highly independent and borderline manipulative woman, overstaying her welcome at the castle of Balsan, a Parisian socialite and horse breeder, to live closer to Paris, her dream city. She refuses to wear the gaudy dresses the socialites sport, complaining of their ridiculousness and lack of comfort.
For the first half of the film, Tautou's Chanel emits a feistiness and independence unique to most biopics. Though she gets tangled up in several love affairs—one with Balsan, another with an English industrialist (Alessandro Nivola)—Chanel resolves that she never wants to be married; she is better suited to be a mistress. However, the classic narrative arc vanquishes this hint of originality with the further development and ultimate tragedy of Chanel's affair with ""Boy,"" the English industrialist. This love triangle nearly takes total control of the film, completely overshadowing Chanel's achievements.
The most depressing fact of all, as shown by the film, is that Chanel never cared for fashion. She wanted to be an actress and initially made a living as a cabaret singer. But constraining costumes and corsets prompted her to begin alterations for the sake of comfort. Though she was only satisfied by simplicity in the realm of fashion, it never enthralled her. Most biopics parade the subject's given career as their passion and their dream, but this one let the bitterness of reality poke through.
Another enticing yet tantalizing aspect of the film is its title: ""Coco Before Chanel."" After wading through Chanel's love affairs and the drama of her personal life, there is a certain expectation that the audience will be appeased by the success of her career—the origin of the little black dress, her perfumes, anything that resembles some sort of payoff for her unhappy life. While we are shown a tiny glimpse of her efforts, the film's ending resonates with some dissatisfaction, perhaps exemplifying the disappointment of Chanel herself.
Grade: B
