…is one of those movies that allow us peek into the lives of the very famous before they were, well, very famous. It’s 1893 in a French orphanage where Gabrielle “Coco” (Audrey Tautou) is left by her father to be raised by nuns. Fifteen years later, and since he never came back, Coco, is now a seamstress by day and a singer in a cabaret by night. She meets Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde) who takes her under his wing (and into his bed) but only because she refuses to move out of his mansion in the French countryside with its grand horse stables, overflowing fountains and a fully hired staff. While the movie is close to perfect this is the one part of the story that raises a huge disconnect simply because Balsan adores women with abundant cleavage, fussy feathers, corsets and jewelry. Coco is everything but that. Instead she’s more Charlie Chaplin rolled up in a dainty Audrey Hepburn with inky black eyes, dressing in daddy’s clothes, raiding his closet and snipping his starched shirts and trousers to suit her style. It’s easy to see how her history in orphanage couture of black and white clothing would inspire her simplicity in becoming Coco Chanel, but it’s hard to understand why the female society of its time would accept this radical change. Heck, I can remember wearing colored tights under my mini-skirt, circa 1980, after departing a Manhattan fashion show only to be heckled by small town folks elsewhere. But it’s the love story with Arthur “Boy” Capel (Alessandro Nivola) that takes the movie by storm, sweeping us into the great epic-feeling love story that make this type of movie breathtaking and memorable. (sidenote: So much better than Oscar winner Marion Cotillard in “La Vie En Rose.”)The soundtrack, the countryside, the ocean cliffs, the high society events, and the glam camera work sweep us into complete silence – becoming a mesmerized audience. And there, inside the backdrop of what would become the Chanel empire, you find yourself feeling it’s all so very c’est magnifique! Four tiaras
