Coco Vs. Chanel

Fashion fans have been so lucky so far. A handful of films about our favourite people in the industry have come out during the last few years and I think it's fair to say all of them —be it a documentary, a biopic or an adapted novel— have lived up to the hype. However, the fashion boom is still spreading its effects and that means companies are starting to rush projects that could never be rushed. This is the case of the upcoming film 'Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky'. The film picks up from just before Boy Capel's death and shows how Mademoiselle Chanel becomes successful and involved with the Russian composer and conductor Igor Stravinsky. The subject of the film seems absolutely apt as it continues to tell the story of Gabrielle Chanel where 'Coco before Chanel' left it. My problem is with the execution. Now, I haven't yet seen the film (will be released on December 30th) but it is usually a very bad thing when you can pick up so many things from a 2-minute trailer. Not only Anna Mouglalis' soft features and noticeable height are wrong for her character but the film seems to have taken from the style of the 'Emmanuelle' series and shows a very sexually charged Coco. The veracity of this is both uncertain and utterly irrelevant. Chanel's relationships should be used to show how the very different and remarkable men in her life influenced the way she thought and created and how they might have been factors for the shifts in the fashion house.

In any case, I don't wish to speak too much too soon so we will all have to watch the film at the end of the year and see what Jan Kounen has made of it. But I will continue to say that Gabrielle Chanel's sexual drive and practises are beyond pointless if they don't add anything else to the character. Which is why I have given the film 3 Giabiconis and half a Karl (too much superficiality and too little brain) and why 'Coco before Chanel' got 3 Karls and a Giabiconi for it's great balance. Have a look at the two trailers below and see how abysmal the differences are.

       

I'm off.

[Pictures: Imdb.com]