"Coco Before Chanel" (French: "Coco avant Chanel") is a 2009 French film starring Audrey Tautou as the iconic French fashion designer who revolutionized the world of fashion with her unique interpretations of elegant feminine style.

"Coco Avant Chanel" was released April 2009 in France, and came to the United States in September 2009. At the box office it brought a gross of $6,095,004 via USA audiences, and $48,827,935 worldwide. On February 16th it was released in the United States on DVD and Blu-Ray. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2009/COCO.php

The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design, and is a visually stunning treat for fans of early 20th century fashion, and especially Coco's work. Extras on the DVD/Blu-Ray releases include "The Making of Coco Before Chanel," a seven-part documentary that offers a glimpse at the creative work behind the film's lavish costumes and set designs. http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=movies&sc2=reviews&sc3=dvd&id=102078

Critic Brian Callaghan summed up the inspirational power of the film in his March 2010 review for Edge Boston newspaper: " Anyone who watches 'Coco Before Chanel' will never see a bottle of Chanel No. 5 or a Chanel suit again without thinking about this brave and talented young woman and the obstacles she overcame to become one of the first and greatest fashion designers of all time." http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=entertainment&sc=movies&sc2=reviews&sc3=dvd&id=102078

"The movie is most fascinating when it shows how Chanel communicated her enlightened sense of womanhood through her innovative designs, which in turn helped women feel differently about themselves. " J.R. Jones (Chicago Reader) http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/MovieTimes?oid=1020361

"It's the getting there that makes "Coco Before Chanel" worthwhile. We are used to seeing Tautou play the sweetheart. Here, she's anything but. Constantly smoking, dour, unsmiling, critical, she plays a character difficult to warm to but fascinating to watch (observing Chanel was probably more fun than living with her). She does not suffer fools gladly, even though fools surround her. This is a thin film in many respects, but not in Tautou's full portrayal of a complex woman. (Poelvoorde also is quite good, making the often boorish Balsan sympathetic.) It's not just a nice change of pace for Tautou, but a fully realized one as well." - Bill Goodykoontz (Arizona Republic) http://www.azcentral.com/thingstodo/movies/articles/2009/10/22/20091022coco1023.html,/ref>

"Visually attractive and moderately diverting, "Coco" is not a bad movie. But it is a deeply conventional one. And surely that's a disservice to an artist who revolutionized her industry by flouting every convention that came her way." - Elizabeth Weitzman (New York Daily News) <ref>http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2009/09/25/2009-09-25_coco_before_chanel_.html#ixzz0hYgQHVqd

"The most obvious credit goes to the strong, sure performance of Tautou, who costarred in "The Da Vinci Code" following her breakthrough in the successful "Amelie." Tautou not only resembles Chanel, she inhabits the role completely, using flashing eyes and a relentless intelligence to convey the unbending strength of a woman determined to make something of her life in a time and place when that was far from the norm." - Kenneth Turan (Los Angeles Times) http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/25/entertainment/et-coco25

"The 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, soft or particularly sympathetic. Her fashions may have liberated women from the hideous excesses of the late 19th century, but she creates them not out of idealism but because they directly reflect her inalterable personality. She didn't put women in sailor shirts out of conviction. She liked to wear them." - Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times)

"Maybe it's just the subtitles, but it would seem that Fontaine has a keener eye for the elements that made Chanel's style than she has an ear for dialogue. But she gets a splendid performance from Tautou, who plays Chanel like a time bomb that explodes into a bouquet. Likewise from Alessandro Nivola as "Boy" Capel, the self-made Englishman who showed Chanel how to become a self-made woman." - Carrie Rickey (Philadelphia Inquirer) http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/movies/20091009_Young_rebel_of_an_overdecorated_gilded_age.html

"By the end, we are left to watch as Chanel basks in her triumph and gazes out at the trappings of her success. It's an oddly drained and empty conclusion to a life so rich and full. " - Tom Maurstad (Dallas Morning News) http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/ent/movies/reviews/stories/DN-coco_1009gd.ART.State.Edition1.238b1e3.html

This film tells the story of Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, a French orphan who became a revolutionary and iconic couturier.

As the story begins we see Coco as little girl who is sent to an orphanage in the heart of France. She grows into a young woman, and supports herself by working in a tailor's shop by day and at a cabaret with her sister by night. Initially she dreams of making a life for herself in show business; however, she learns the hard way that she is not meant for stardom on the stage.

Through a flirtation with a wealthy suitor, Baron Balsan, Coco gains entrance to French society...the romantic relationship quickly becomes degrading and unfullfilling, but it introduces her to a social world brings out her creative side. She begins to make hats, and creates bold fashions (often by deconstructing the Baron's clothes) that react strongly against the frilly attire and corseted silhouettes worn by her peers. The highbrow women are shocked but intrigued, and it's not long before clients are drawn Coco's designs and her personal style.

A love affair with an English businessman, Arthur "Boy" Capel, brings Coco an opportunity to escape her unhappy relationship with the Baron and pursue her dreams of opening a shop in Paris. The love affair ends sadly with Arthur's untimely death, but Coco forges ahead with her career as a designer. http://www.movieweb.com/movie/FI8328daYzU8ag/synopsis

• Audrey Tautou as Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel
• Benoît Poelvoorde as Étienne Balsan
• Alessandro Nivola as Arthur 'Boy' Capel
• Marie Gillain as Adrienne Chanel
• Emmanuelle Devos as Emilienne d'Alençon
• Régis Royer as Alec, le jockey
• Etienne Bartholomeus as Maître d'hôtel Balsan
• Yan Duffas as Maurice de Nexon

• Academy Award for Best Costume Design - nomination
• BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Film - nomination
• BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role - nomination
• BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design - nomination
• BAFTA Award for Best Makeup and Hair - nomination
• César Award for Best Writing - nomination
• César Award for Best Actress - nomination
• César Award for Best Supporting Actor - nomination
• César Award for Best Cinematography - nomination
• César Award for Best Costume Design - Winner
• César Award for Best Production Design - nomination
• European Film Awards Audience Award - nomination
• European Film Award for Best Composer - nomination
• European Film Awards Prix d'Excellence for Best Costume Design - nomination
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Foreign Language Film - nomination
• World Soundtrack Award for Soundtrack Composer of the Year - Winner

"It may be a subject that will not automatically appeal to many. However, this movie is certainly worth watching. Audrey Tautou, complete with all the mannerisms and dark looks of Coco Chanel, plays a magnificent role. We start of at the miserable beginning of Gabrielle Chanel's life, in an orphanage. It quickly becomes clear that this is not the story about some high-society woman who got bored and decided to make clothes in a style that was unheard of at that time, even for people who don't know anything about the life of Coco Chanel. We see her, slowly but surely, clawing her way up in society, using her charm and wit, but most of all: her outspokenness, always telling what she thinks. Cinematographically, this film is outstanding too. Throughout the film, certain elements of clothing (black and white patterns, stripes, men's shirts) are shown through an unclear lens, to point out that even the most early views of Coco on fashion were incorporated in her style later." - Source: IMDB User Review http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1035736/

"More a snapshot of a moment than conventional biography, and while less complex than it might want to be, still a quietly thoughtful look at one of the 20th century’s most influential characters." - Source: Empire Online http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?dvdid=118246

"Visually attractive and moderately diverting, "Coco" is not a bad movie. But it is a deeply conventional one. And surely that's a disservice to an artist who revolutionized her industry by flouting every convention that came her way." - Elizabeth Weitzman (New York Daily News) http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/2009/09/25/2009-09-25_coco_before_chanel_.html#ixzz0hYgQHVqd