Cast as the budding fashion designer Gabrielle Chanel, Knightley has a brush with Tallulah Harlech who plays Eve Lavallière, a stage actress who may have been the first fashionable woman in France to cut her hair short and parade around without wearing a hat - apparently scandalous.
For the film, an entire street in the seaside town of Deauville was vividly recreated in a vast hall at Luc Besson’s new studios, the Cité du Cinéma, on the northern fringe of Paris. Every detail is precise for the period. WWD reported, "As with all Lagerfeld films, expect a witty story line, salty (snarky?) exchanges and a slightly embellished version of social and fashion history." Lagerfeld tapped into a pivotal moment in fashion - when Edwardian strictness was yielding to a freer look for women, in hairstyles, clothes and even body language.
Characters in the film include Georges Carpentier, a famous boxer at the time, portrayed by Sébastien Jondeau; aristocrat Lady de Grey, played by Stella Tennant, and the writer Vita Sackville-West, impersonated by model Saskia de Brauw.
Lagerfeld designed the understated cream ensembles worn by Knightley and Clotilde Hesme, who plays the role of Chanel’s aunt and great friend Adrienne, while the 100 or so extras teeming on the streets were outfitted in historic costumes.
You can see the film here. If you haven't already watched, let us know what you think. While it seems to have little purpose, I liked it. The visuals are striking.
Photo courtesy of Chanel
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9 comments:
hi charleston girl!!i loved this movie!! i also loved the movie before this (can't remember what it's called) with model kristen mcmenamy. i was at my local chanel counter today and the counter manager let me see all the things that will be coming in. i didn't write it down but, i'm sure you'll have all the info. posted. i noticed there's no model showing "the look" in any of the collections. every 4th of july i'm at the counter purchasing fall stuff. so, it should be in by then. i noticed no glossimers in any of the collections. looks like they repackaged glosses to look like the old aqualumiere glosses. the "jeux" collection is slated to ship out early august. i saw new lipcolors...the longlasting range, gloss on one end, color on the other. i liked holiday best. the quad looks like the one from the "hong kong collection". all very neutral. most of the nails look dark and "vampy". noticed all glosses after the fall collection are in the extrait de gloss formula. at my counter, everything is gone....featuring the new cc cream. also, the manager said someone named "jacques???" replaced peter philips. anyway, thought that was interesting. happy, huggy sunday to you!!! xo.
Wendy, I need to go over to the store and get copies of all the upcoming marketing materials. I avoided NM this week b/c of Camp Gorgeous. Now that it's over, the gals will have time for me. :)
Hi CG, I loved the movie. So fun! Thanks for posting. Hope you got to relax a little this weekend after what I am sure was an exhausting week for you.
Denise at aeiokid at comcast dot net.
I wanted to like this film as Coco Chanel is an icon to me, but it seemed so cliche, pretentious, and inauthentic. Would anyone really say, "I recognize her look, her style, and elegance". I kept wondering why Coco Chanel had a British accent when Coco was French and the actress playing her aunt has a French accent. I know Keira is beautiful and talented and must on of Karl's muses, but her accent was so distracting and not authentic to Coco. Linsey Wixon who played Miss Wonderbilt...oh my. The shop in Deauville was opened in 1913 and all the eye makeup on some of the actresses was so heavy when mostly only stage performers in that time period would have worn makeup before the 1920's. And I don't know how a film only 15 minutes long seemed drawn out.
I love Keira Knightley, She has a face that can be transformed in the various roles she chooses.
As for Chanel, my absolute favorite fragrance is Madamoiselle.
Hi Denise,
I did relax - a little too much. Event today, I'm having a little trouble with the idea that it's Monday!
Hi Anonymous 12:16,
Yep, it is stylized - the hallmark of Lagerfeld. I agree that it was a little long. They could have cut it by five minutes. :)
Hi Peta,
Keira Knightley is uber-gorgeous. Apparently, Karl Lagerfeld thinks so too. Not just anyone could have been selected to play the iconic Gabrielle Chanel.
I enjoyed the film although I agree that it was entirely too long and--dare I say it--tedious. I understand that it was not meant to be a historical representation of any merit, but Keira as a smirking, eye-rolling Coco with a British accent just didn't do it for me. I couldn't help but compare Keira's Coco with the feisty yet likable, free-spirited Coco that Audrey Tautou (Coco Avant Chanel) portrayed. Oh well, it just confirms that when it comes to film, Uncle Karl is merely a dabbler. He's certainly not in the same league as Tom Ford who directed and produced the award winning, internationally acclaimed film, A Single Man.
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