If you're expecting 110 minutes of layered pearls, tweeds suits and chain-linked quilted bags in this biopic of Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel's life, then you'll be disappointed. Director Anne Fontaine's first period film is primarily a character study of the pioneering French fashionista pre-fame - and it's all the better for it.
Audrey Tautou stars as Coco, who is orphaned as a child along with her older sister and goes on to eek out a living as a seamstress by day and nightclub singer by night. She's not great at the latter, but her trenchant charm nevertheless attracts the attentions of millionaire playboy Étienne Balsan who effectively becomes her sugar daddy when her sister moves away and her solo chanteuse act falls flat.
This being the early 19th century, Coco is obliged to rely on men for money and opportunity - a demeaning act she pulls off with a mixture of defiance and resignation. This paradox is what makes her such a beguiling character to watch -by turns audacious and vulnerable, waspish and tender - and Audrey Tautou is luminous in the role, doing more with a look or gesture than most actresses could do with a page of dialogue.
The story only really gets going when she embarks on a tragic love affair with 'Boy' Capel (Alessandro Nivola) whom she can never marry - though this being an age where nuptials are either a social expedience or a trap, this is no bad thing. In spurning convention for her own autonomy she became a pioneer not only of fashion but of feminism - way before her time.
Without resorting to love triangle clichés, the film portrays a fascinating, complex story of relationships in an era on the verge of upheaval. And although the writing and directing is consummate, this is really Tautou's film from start to finish.
Kate Coffey
