Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Iconic Chanel in the Power of Two

On the heels of a telefilm by Christian Duguray starring Shirley MacLaine as Coco Chanel after the War, two cinematographers are very busy into their own visions of how the eternal Mademoiselle of fashion built her fascinating life from her humble beginnings of being raised by seamstress nuns and her iconic career ~her indomitable perfumes forming a large part of her glory and occupying a place at every perfume lover's collection.


Coco Avant Chanel is the first one, set to screen on 22 April, and it stars Audrey Tautou along with Benoît Poelvoorde, Marie Gillain, Alessandro Nivola and Emmanuelle Devos. It is based on the book by Edmonde Charles-Roux's "L'irrégulière/mon itinéraire Chanel ". Directed by Anne Fontaine, the film examines the life and career of the renowned fashion designer in her formative years and early triumphs, leaving the darker Nazi collaboration and espionage charges which were at the nick of time alleviated with the help of Churchill and the Royal family as well the difficult return after years on the fashion scene left unsaid.


The focus of the biopic Coco avant Chanel as might be surmised by the title seems to be the modernisation of design and the liberation of women from the constrictions of La Belle Epoque mind-sets. I am proud to present you the trailer and preview pics.







On the other hand, the second film named Coco Chanel et Igor Stravinsky, is centered around a six-week period in which the renowened designer and the iconoclastic composer were believed to have had an affair.

Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky is starring Greco-French actress and Chanel model (you should have seen her in the Allure Sensuelle ads) Anna Mouglalis with Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen as Stravinsky. The film will open in autumn 2009, but these photos are meant to give you a little amuse bouche!

Which actress do you prefer for the role?



Pic svia allocine.fr, vanity fair via screeninglog, lightcamerahistory.wordpress.com and fashionfork.blogspot.com

20 comments:

  1. Anonymous03:09

    I don't know who I prefer...I am a huge Audrey Tautou fan. But that last picture of Anna Mouglalis is stunning. Wow!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous08:40

    Anna (& Mads)! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous11:34

    Oh E I'm a sucker for anything to do with Mademoiselle Chanel! Loved the Shirley MacLaine biopic and all the others that went before.

    I think the Audrey Tatou will be especially charming.

    Thank you so much for the sneak peeks too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi T!! :-)

    It is, isn't it? They both look like they're given the proper attention to so I am salivating for both.
    Anna is a creature of her own, she has a rather tragic nuance to her expression from time to time in some films, although I believe Audrey to be the better actress.

    ReplyDelete
  5. S,

    I was pretty sure you'd pick that one. Mads especially should get the international recognition he so rightfully deserves!

    ReplyDelete
  6. D,

    thank you honey, you're very welcome on the pics. As soon as I saw the trailer, I couldn't resist posting them too.
    Let's hope they are both well made. It seems like much attention has been given at least to the visual part of the story.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous14:24

    I'm looking forward to both, but I must say, I adore Audrey Tautou. She is just a joy to watch

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous15:55

    Audrey Tautou is obviously miscast. She's bankable, cute but surely not Coco Chanel.

    ReplyDelete
  9. They both look great, but I have to admit that I am partial to Audrey since I have seen so many of her films.

    The Coco telepic was a bit thin, but I thought Shirley was great, too.

    Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous16:27

    Oh, I like Mikkelsen. He usually plays very nice, shy guys (i.e. doctors who fall in love etc.) and that's why I like him. Only that negative role he had in Bond I didn't like at all.
    Lavinia

    ReplyDelete
  11. K,

    Audrey has a charming, child-like "openess" to her face, doesn't she?
    They both look pretty fabulous judging by the previews.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Kotchki ,

    thanks for stopping by! I think she might be too cute for Mademoiselle (who was anything but) but I guess I am relying on acting chops this time. Let's see what happens. Or perhaps they're aiming at showing Coco's softer side, how she had it rough in the beginning and make us "like" her? It all depends on the director's vision I guess.

    ReplyDelete
  13. R,

    you've got a point there: recognisability! (casting directors place importance to that obviously)
    I wasn't able to see the Shirley McLaine biopic being overseas (have't checked if it's rentable on DVD yet), but she's an experienced actress, having played myriads of roles, so I am sure she got it in her stride.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lavinia,

    ohh, you just paid Mads a great compliment you know: if he was so atnipathetic as a villain in Casino Royal, then surely he was acting superbly! (he did IMO, very convincing, nothing over the top as is so easy to do with villains)
    I can well see the appeal of quite, shy types though ;-)

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  15. Oooph, I love Audrey, but i have loved Mads ever since After The Wedding, so I am completely taken with both.

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  16. J,

    looks like you have two cinema appointments this year at least :-))

    ReplyDelete
  17. Anonymous10:12

    Thanks for the great site on perfume!

    Joe

    ReplyDelete
  18. Joe,

    thank you for the compliment!

    I took the liberty to remove the link to your commercial site, however, as comments are really meant to be reader-oriented here. You're very welcome to advertise with us, nevertheless, if you choose to, but it should be done in an above-board, open manner through a sponsored banner or link, so readers know it's a store.
    Thank you for your understanding!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I'll have to say Anna - while I adore Audrey, she is a little too sweet-looking for this role.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous20:16

    Helg,

    Not to pull a shameless plug but speaking of this topic I just posted thoughts on the latest Chanel No. 5 campaign on my blog. I also changed the layout of the site so by all means check it out a bit. If you absolutely hate anything let me know.

    A

    ReplyDelete

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