Review: Coco Avant Chanel

I just finished a nice little French movie called Coco Before Chanel. It truly was about Chanel's life before she became the famous fashion designer we all know her to be, because only the last twenty minutes of the film were devoted to the beginning of her career. Turns out, too, that her name was not Coco (if you had not guessed that before) but Gabrielle. Coco was a nicknamed she was given by her father and later by another gentleman in her life. It just stuck, and from a brand standpoint, it sounds nice.

What I really loved about this movie was the use of color and the cinematography. In the late 1800s in France, women wore elaborate white (or very, very pale pink) dresses and huge gaudy hats. Men wore darker colors, usually some sort of suit. Chanel was a true innovator in her time and what was awesome about her was that she did not care if people stared, which I'm sure they did in real life and not just in the movie. She didn't wear white all the time but wore dark colors, prints, and most shockingly: pants. She also didn't wear the frilly, humongous hats. Instead she wore simple, but still elegant, straw hats, which is how she actually got her start. So the use of color and the contrast of Chanel's clothes to those around her was done really well.

Like I said, I also enjoyed the cinematography. Many scenes were simply picturesque and lovely. Also, something else I really appreciated was the point of view shots with Chanel. These usually happened when she was in some sort of crowd and was looking around at everyone's clothes. The camera would move along, just like someone's vision does, but it would stay in focus as it passed by people and it was obvious they were pointing out very specific details about the clothes; maybe a collar here or the cut of a coat there. It was really nicely done.

All in all, I gave it three stars of five and if you're up for renting a French film, give this one a try.