Fresh
A movie that is tres chic even if it sometimes resembles those corsets Coco banished, a little stiff and confining.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Coco Before Chanel
Before she was France's famous mademoiselle…
2009 · 1h 50m · PG-13
Drama, History
Directed by
Anne Fontaine
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Coco Before Chanel
Overview
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.
Director and cast
- Anne Fontaine Director
- Audrey Tautou as Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel
- Benoît Poelvoorde as Etienne Balsan
- Alessandro Nivola as Arthur "Boy" Capel
- Marie Gillain as Adrienne Chanel
- Emmanuelle Devos as Emilienne
- Régis Royer as Alec, jockey
- Étienne Bartholomeus Cast
- Yan Duffas Cast
- Fabien Béhar Cast
- Roch Leibovici Cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
63%
Tomatometer
Rotten
The thread connecting the ambitious girl to the acclaimed woman is enough to make us wish for a sequel titled Chanel No. 2.
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Fresh
The film is unfailingly funny.
Tom Long, Detroit News
Rotten
Coco Before Chanel only starts to get interesting when she asserts her creative and financial freedom -- and that's right when the movie's about to end.
Christy Lemire, Associated Press
Fresh
We are used to seeing Tautou play the sweetheart. Here, she's anything but. Constantly smoking, dour, unsmiling, critical, she plays a character difficult to warm to but fascinating to watch.
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic
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