Storyline
2009 biopic about the early life of Coco Chanel. Several years after leaving the orphanage, to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar both. 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.
Directors
Cast
Alessandro Nivola, Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Marie Gillain, Emmanuelle Devos, Régis Royer, Yan Duffas, Fabien Béhar, Roch Leibovici, Jean-Yves Chatelais, Pierre Diot, Vincent Nemeth, Bruno Abraham-Kremer, Inès Bessalem, Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc, Marie Parouty, Fanny Deblock, Claude Brécourt
Trailer
Reviews
80
Anne Fontaine’s biopic transforms the designer’s early life into highbrow guilty-pleasure gold.
75
Tautou is a fascinating, unsmiling, petite presence with a severe brow and an androgynous appeal, so much so that I wish Alessandro Nivola (Junebug) were a more robust beau as Arthur ''Boy'' Capel, the love of Chanel's life.
75
Not an expansive biopic but a fascinating snapshot of a pivotal chapter for Chanel, her formative fashionista years.
70
Surprisingly intimate and nuanced.
70
Spectacle, a love triangle, heritage settings, bravura acting, witty dialogue, a bittersweet finale: There's something for everyone in Anne Fontaine's Coco Before Chanel.
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