Coco avant Chanel, The Trailer + Video with Gabrielle Chanel: Compare {Cultural Notes}

You can now watch the trailer for the movie by Anne Fontaine, Coco avant Chanel featuring Audrey Tautou. It is going to be released on April 22nd 2009 in France.

Plus d'infos sur ce film

What is apparent from this film is that the popular flavor of Audrey Tautou that was showcased in Amélie has been accentuated. She embodies a young Chanel who has quite a bit of the garçonne and titi parisien about her, I suppose, to emphasize the trajectory of her social ascent (although she was not originally from Paris). It makes one think of the biopic Edith Piaf a bit, another rags-to-riches/fame tale narrated with the appropriate accent des faubourgs...

Here is another video, with the real Chanel, who is a real pleasure to watch. She gives the impression that she must have been, even young, a somewhat fiercer and drier character than as portrayed by Tautou. The actress explained that she had to reach deep down inside her to bring out the "hard" side of Chanel. My own humble opinion, and I am only half-joking, is that the best person to play Chanel would have been Karl Lagerfeld. Their diction resemble each other's and they have the same kind of dry wit. He has been channeling the grande mademoiselle for years.