Movie review: Coco Before Chanel

by Teresa Gubbins

Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel was -- and still is -- one of the biggest icons fashion has ever had. But Coco Before Chanel serves as a good example of the fact that icons don't always get their due on film. Which is not to say that it isn't a sweet little period piece; but those craving an iconic experience that's heavy on fashion will come away disappointed.

Instead, Coco feels like your archetypal foreign film -- darkly lit, dialog in French with subtitles, with a forced storyline and an almost corny vibe. It's the story of the little orphan that could, a profile of Chanel in her early days that's meant to show her as she coalesces into a designer.

Alas, her eurekas on fashion are depicted rather artlessly, with actress Audrey Tatou wrinkling her placid mug ever so slightly during breakthrough moments. Director and co-writer Anne Fontaine envisioned Tatou in the role before the script was ever written, and Tatou does vaguely resemble Chanel. But the problem with writing around a face is that you tend to get stuck on the face, and sometimes that's all this thing feels like: Audrey Tatou's face. Even a face as pretty as Tatou's can get old after 110 minutes.

The film covers Chanel's days as a seamstress and cabaret performer, experimenting with clothes, working for independence from her lovers, and climbing mountains of adversity. Cue the violins! There's some distraction in the Paris setting, and in the cinematography, with shots that evoke classic paintings such as the works by pointillist artist Georges Seurat. There are pretty clothes, too, curated by Karl Lagerfeld, who reigns as the current designer at Chanel. But they're all period costumes! Snap.