
Several years after leaving the orphanage to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, adopting the nickname Coco from her father in early childhood. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entrée into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats. When she falls in love with English businessman Arthur Capel further op... (Full plot summary below)
Enjoy FREE movies and series with your Prime (USA) subscription or when you start a 30-day free trial!
Links compiled using automated software. Availability of offers subject to change / might be region specific / out of date.
Several years after leaving the orphanage to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, adopting the nickname Coco from her father in early childhood. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entrée into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats. When she falls in love with English businessman Arthur Capel further opportunities open up, though life becomes ever more complicated.
Leave your thoughts about Coco Before Chanel.
| PopMattersCynthia FuchsCoco Before Chanel cannot get out from under the romantic fabrications and excesses that ostensibly annoyed its subject. |
| Seattle TimesMoira MacDonaldThe film, understandably, leaves you wanting more about the rest of the designer's life, but Coco Before Chanel is wisely focused on those years in which she became herself. |
| Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertThe naturalism of Anne Fontaine's film would be at home in a novel by Dreiser. Her star Audrey Tautou, who could make lovability into a career, avoids any effort to make Coco Chanel nice, or soft, or particularly sympathetic. |
| tonymedley.comTony MedleyTatou unerringly captures the feistiness and lack of regard for the truth that Coco used to become such an enormous success. |
| Movie DearestFr. Chris CarpenterElegant and evocative...Tautou reveals a growing maturity both as a woman and as an actress. |
| Entertainment SpectrumKeith CohenThis guilty pleasure costume drama leaves you wanting to know more about this extraordinary woman considered one of the most influential in the 20th century. Let's hope that Fontaine can do a follow-up with "After" in the title. |
| Cinema SightWesley LovellAn interesting, but slow, look at the life of the legendary Chanel before she became famous. |
| Filmstar MagazineAnne WollenbergAnne Fontaine's first historical outing is both a compelling drama and a lavish period piece. |
| Time OutNina CaplanFontaine's film is gorgeous, but its beauty is practical, almost textile, like a Chanel tweed. |
| ViewLondonMatthew TurnerEngaging, beautifully shot biopic with a great central performance from Audrey Tautou, though the script deliberately leaves out some of the less palatable details. |