Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Ginger Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

talisencrw I really enjoyed this. Anne Fontaine really did a fine job of showing the trials and tribulations, the ordeals that Coco had to go through in order to be vastly successful. Probably one of my fifty favourite films by a female director.The film grew over its course as she herself bloomed and gained more self-confidence, and was a sumptuous delight with ravishing and inspired performance by Audrey Tautou. Beautiful to look at and with wonderful soundtrack too, showing the multi-faceted beauty, both inside and out, of the amazing French woman. She is always watchable, gorgeous and fervently likable--and was a fine choice to do the portrayal. This was Important in showing that she was nobody's wife, mistress or fool, and was one of the best in coming from awful circumstances which could have crippled others, but through discovering and believing in herself became an icon without peer.

zhangmeizhuu Audrey Tatou not just have a good acting skills but also a great voice (if it was really her singing in this movie). In this movie, you'll see the life of women in this period and the very luxurious life of the rich people. Truly are the French have the most luxurious parties and outfits before. I'm so glad to have found this movie as I'm a big fan of movies like The Duchess, Marie Antoinette, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen and the like. I wonder what will happen to us if Coco Chanel didn't invent those dresses before...I can't stand the itch and the tightness of the dress maybe...Anyway, I'll be looking forward to Coco and Igor Stravinsky movie soon. I hope it won't let me down.

Haynoosh Before watching this film Coco Chanel was for me just a designer,a couturiere, a great one of course.The importance of this film for me was in revealing first of all the personality behind the designer and most importantly her significance and role in shaping the identity of the modern woman.After watching this film she became for me not just a creator of clothes or style but the creator of new,modern,contemporary woman.She has been a breakthrough a turning point forever dividing the social,existential identity of women before and after her.By focusing on the course of her life from the early years of childhood passed in the orphanage to her introduction to the elite Parisian society; the film shows the evolution of Coco a seamstress and singer of second rate cabarets,the girl unrecognized and overshadowed by the aristocracy,to the Parisian woman who has earned the respect and recognition of the same "elite" society who once considered her an outsider.By following her personal life, like her stay at the castle of Etienne Balsan we see how the definition of a woman according to her has been shaped and what have been her challenges in establishing the image of the modern woman. Her breaking the rules of what was considered to be the merits of femininity,like her passion for horse riding,which led her to preference of more simple and practical tendance of clothing and wearing trousers,the film shows the sources of her inspirations,for example in her visit to the sea with the man she loved,she notices the fishermen,their lifestyle,their clothes and from there comes the iconic blue and white striped fisherman tops,one of her trademarks.The film shows us how through her silent observations she creates a revolution,a movement within the lifestyle and social status of women.She not only frees women from wearing corsets ,but allows them to breath the fresh air, the air of daring to be recognized as a woman in a plain little black dress.By following the genie of a woman Coco before Chanel shows us how in the first glance an ordinary and simple work like making dresses can be a great contribution to the creation of modern times.

malcotoro Roger Ebert said Audrey Tautout was amazing in this film, she really is! And she looks a lot like Gabrielle Chanel... Alessandro Nivola, so handsome, American born he worked to learn French for his role in this, a tender romance. The atmosphere and mood is strictly Chanel No. 5, authentic I do believe, sophisticated and elegant. My brother lives now in France and I have to add a word or two with the description in French... ravissant, merveilleux... I did not find it "slow" and I was not bored at all as one reviewer commented. My goodness it's a romance and the director has crafted it carefully. The music score by Alexandre Desplat is lush and romantic (that word again!) finely orchestrated, I was at a loss when it finished... Oh incidentally check out "Coco and Igor", the wonderful companion piece to this "Coco avant Chanel" DVD Comment from Malcolm in Toronto Aug 2011