Coco Before Chanel

[Beate]

Well I am happy to say that AYBG got it wrong! The film is fab, I really enjoyed watching it, yes, there was fashion in it, but it was negligible. It was about a woman who dared to be different for the simple fact that she wanted to work and make her name in a world that was so dominated by men who thought they could do what they liked! You either married, became a mistress or you stayed in the gutter. Well, Coco Chanel chose another option. Even when she was the mistress of that English guy and he had given her money to start her own hat shop, she never was completely independent, so in a way him dying set her truly free to do what she wanted all by herself. This film isn't about style. It's what she chose to make her own way and the simple elegance of her hats and clothes was a hit with the women who had to wear all these feathers, frills and corsets before, but it could have been anything really because I don't think Coco thought much of convention, the convention that meant men could treat women any way they wanted. These days you can be a married career woman with children, back then even working was a revolution. The trailer really doesn't do the film justice. The film concentrates on her relationship with men before she became famous and paints a vivid picture of that period of time with all its frills and decadence. Well worth watching.

8/10.

[bevvy]

Sorry to disagree with you Beate but, I for one wish that I had heeded AYBG's warning.
I must admit that as someone with no interest in fashion I had reservations about this before seeing this but I thought that I would give it a chance.
It was all very beautiful and the story should have been quite interesting but I just found it so slow and tedious that by about the middle of the film I really could not give a monkeys what happened to these people.
My OH hated it even more than I did and nearly fell over in his haste to get out of the cinema!

4/10 from me

[sharkgirl]

It was ok, glad I didn't p*y and really glad OH didn't come. It was a nothing sort of story to me, explaining to OH about the film when I got home was difficult except for the geisha reference which summed it up for me. She wouldn't have managed on her own if she hadn't compromised herself in the first place, or if her English lover hadn't funded her enterprise, means to an end. Was she really that ambitious or in the right place at the right time or am I missing the point? Still, thinking about it further it wasn't half as bad as Doubt with Meryl Streep earlier this year, yawn!

[Ms Thrifty]

Sorry to disagree with you Beate but, I for one wish that I had heeded AYBG's warning.
I must admit that as someone with no interest in fashion I had reservations about this before seeing this but I thought that I would give it a chance.
It was all very beautiful and the story should have been quite interesting but I just found it so slow and tedious that by about the middle of the film I really could not give a monkeys what happened to these people.
My OH hated it even more than I did and nearly fell over in his haste to get out of the cinema!

4/10 from me

Did you make up for it by going to the nearby Fair Trade Fair afterwards, Bevvy? I hear that was worthwhile and well attended.

[mandmc10]

Totally agree with Beate. The film was definetely worth watching and even driving to another town to watch it (in my case). I was so carried away I didn't mind subtitles. Top 10 out of 10 for me. I found the story of her life quite interesting ,+ loved the settings and the dresses and colorful party scenes ...
I want to watch it again!

[bevvy]

Did you make up for it by going to the nearby Fair Trade Fair afterwards, Bevvy? I hear that was worthwhile and well attended.

No, I saw the signs for it and would have loved to have gone but I was anxious to get home as soon as possible to see the remainder of the live coverage of the Tour de France that I was missing because I went to that film

[AYBG]

I realised I had forgotten to add a star rating thing to this and several other film posts/reviews, but I've done so now so rate away :)

[MissPrecious]

I saw this at Screen on the Green where they didn't even bother collecting the ticket printout or the culture mag page! Sometimes I wonder if I should bother b*ying the paper at all.

I really enjoyed this movie. The story was interesting and Audrey Tautou was well placed as Coco. I agree that the pace was slow but I didn't get bored at all...think it suited the storyline. Loved the catwalk bit at the end...some of the dresses were amazing! Definitely one movie I would watch again. 7/10

[opas]

I had to b*y the paper this morning and I was slightly worried that the cinema staff would not accept today's Culture + front cover as a substitute to the page printed last week - even though the website says it is perfectly valid. Luckily I decided to print that information from the website too and as I expected, I was questioned about it. Everyone else in the queue seemed to have last week's newspaper cut out so I can understand why she questioned it. Although it was quickly resolved as I had the proof, I'm inclined to think I may have had a problem if I had to debate with them on this. Former experience tells us that you just can't rely on the staff knowing all the details regarding the arrangements of a screening and I was definitely reminded of this.

I did enjoy the film but I did find it quite slow moving. Reading about Coco Chanel, it sounds like her life got a lot more interesting, albeit controversial after that period. The film was quite long but I wonder if it might have been a lot more entertaining and engrossing if they had turned it into a true biopic of her whole life. The story doesn't end where they left us and the drama continued. I think that is the Coco story I would like to see. Still, I appreciated what they did with this and I thought Audrey Tatou was great. 7/10.

[tufty]

I agree with Beate's comments, I too really enjoyed this film, though it was about 15 minutes too long for me.

The only thing that spoilt the film for me was that I sat near the back of Screen on the Green and found that that I had problems seeing the subtitles due to peoples heads being in the way, will need to remember to sit nearer the front for future subtitled films.

8/10 from me, Audrey Tatou gave an excellent performance.