At Last, At Last: "Coco Before Chanel"

After months of beginning each day in the office by watching the trailer to "Coco Before Chanel" (much like I did with "The September Issue" and the Valentino documentary), the wait is finally over. I saw Anne Fontaine's wonderful film last night, and was both surprised and delighted.

I was surprised by the film because I thought it would have focused more on Chanel's work and career, not to mention her rise to the pinnacle of the fashion world. I was expecting to see a scene on her rivalry with Christian Dior or Elsa Schiaparelli and more explanations regarding her transition from designing hats in Deauville to her feat in presenting her signature collection in Paris. It seemed that in one scene we are shown her early career in hat-making...and then ten minutes later Chanel is in her rue Cambon office presenting an entire collection of dresses, tweed jackets, and elegant ball gowns- all of the classics which have defined her aesthetic. I would have liked to have seen more development here. No attention was paid to her long absence from fashion during WWII or how she made her triumphant comeback after 30 years away from the industry.

Yet I was delighted with the focus on the more personal attributes and characteristics of this great couturier, the lesser-known Chanel, if you will. Audrey Tautou's performance was impeccable, and it is impossible to imagine how any other actress could have captured Chanel in such an alluringly accurate way. There was a fierce independence streak and fiery attitude in Chanel to which I could deeply relate. Not only was Audrey Tautou a perfect physical match to Chanel, but she portrayed all of these qualities authentically and convincingly.

Perhaps the most significant part of the film was Chanel's relationship with the Englishman Arthur "Boy" Capel, for this is what the viewer remembers most. The film didn't really gain momentum until Boy emerged and it quickly lost interest with his departure from the screen. Introduced to Capel while she was the live-in "geisha" to the wealthy Etienne Balsan, Coco and Boy soon fell in love. Their relationship was complicated by many factors- Coco's position in the Balsan household, Boy's friendship with Balsan, Boy's upcoming nuptials, etc., etc. It was never meant to be, and Chanel knew this, saying, "I always knew I'd never be anyone's wife." The young Coco was correct in her prediction, for Chanel never married.

The significance of Coco's relationship with Boy reminded me of other biopics of famous female artists that have emerged on screen recently. In "Becoming Jane," it is not Jane Austen's work that captivates the viewers most, but her heartbreaking realisation that she and the love of her life, Tom LeFroy, can never be together. In "La Vie en Rose," the biopic on Edith Piaf, I most recall the scene in which her great love dies tragically. The same is the case in both "Miss Potter" and even "Iris," the biopic on Iris Murdoch, in which a young Iris Murdoch declares, "You are my world," to her future husband, John Bayley. Their talent and artistic contributions were not overshadowed by their relationships, but the viewer fully grasps the monumental impact of the respective men in their lives and work.

Perhaps this is because it is the relationships one has with friends, family, and lovers that truly define a life, even an exemplary one like that of Gabrielle Chanel, arguably the greatest couturier to ever live. The greatest, in my opinion.

Though the film was full of surprises and even omissions, Chanel's impact on fashion was always made clear. Whether she was in a simple striped shirt cinched at the waist with a bow, a white blouse and pearls, or a long dress without *gasp* a corset, Chanel was indeed portrayed as a woman ahead of her time. And the film never missed the mark in conveying this.