Coco Before Chanel

2.00
    Coco Before Chanel
    2009

    Synopsis

    Several years after leaving the orphanage, to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, earning the nickname Coco from the song she sings nightly with her sister. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entree into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing.

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    Cast

    • Audrey TautouGabrielle 'Coco' Chanel
    • Benoît PoelvoordeEtienne Balsan
    • Alessandro NivolaArthur "Boy" Capel
    • Marie GillainAdrienne Chanel
    • Emmanuelle DevosEmilienne d'Alençon
    • Régis RoyerAlec, jockey
    • Étienne BartholomeusBalsan butler
    • Yan DuffasMaurice de Nexon
    • Fabien BéharShop boss
    • Roch LeiboviciJean, groom

    Recommendations

    • 80

      Time Out

      Anne Fontaine’s biopic transforms the designer’s early life into highbrow guilty-pleasure gold.
    • 75

      Entertainment Weekly

      Tautou is a fascinating, unsmiling, petite presence with a severe brow and an androgynous appeal, so much so that I wish Alessandro Nivola (Junebug) were a more robust beau as Arthur ''Boy'' Capel, the love of Chanel's life.
    • 75

      USA Today

      Not an expansive biopic but a fascinating snapshot of a pivotal chapter for Chanel, her formative fashionista years.
    • 70

      New York Magazine (Vulture)

      Surprisingly intimate and nuanced.
    • 70

      The Hollywood Reporter

      Spectacle, a love triangle, heritage settings, bravura acting, witty dialogue, a bittersweet finale: There's something for everyone in Anne Fontaine's Coco Before Chanel.
    • 60

      Empire

      More a snapshot of a moment than conventional biography, and while less complex than it might want to be, still a quietly thoughtful look at one of the 20th century’s most influential characters.
    • 60

      Variety

      More sentimental than chic, Gallic biopic Coco Before Chanel nonetheless knits a convincing portrait of the designer's journey from her humble beginnings as a provincial seamstress to the halls of Parisian haute couture.
    • 50

      The New Yorker

      Too much of the film feels like one of Balsan’s house parties: undriven, indulgent, quite at ease.

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