Finally opening in limited release this weekend, “Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky” was the other Chanel film acquired by Sony Pictures Classics that isn’t the one starring Audrey Tautou (that one was “Coco Avant Chanel”). We caught the film last fall at Montreal’s Cinemania festival. Here’s what we said about the film then:
The other film about Coco Chanel has one of the best opening sequences we’ve seen all year. It’s 1913, and patrons of a Paris ballet are about to be treated to the first performance of Igor Stravinsky’s (Mads Mikkelsen) “The Rites Of Spring.” Director Jan Kounen, instead of cutting directly to the historic catcalls and near riots that greeted Stravinsky’s work, makes the smart choice of allowing the full piece, with the original choreography, play out, allowing viewers to really experience how shocking this event was. It marked the beginning of a downward spiral for the famous composer, but the rising Coco was in the audience, and little did they know their lives would intersect again. Seven years later, the madly successful Coco (Anna Mouglalis) decides to put up the down-and-out composer and his family in her country villa, presumably so he can have a quiet place to work, but of course she has other intentions. Kounen’s intelligent handling of the opening sets a tone for the rest of the film. The material could so easily be played for high melodrama in lesser hands, but Kounen’s film, buoyed by solid lead performances, is sumptuous, yet subtle, passionate and measured. Kounen navigates the mad affair between Chanel and Stravinsky, and its consequences, with a deft hand. His finest touch is in unfolding the complexity of these characters, celebrating their artistic brilliance, while not being afraid to show the selfishness and callousness that also drives their romance. Even a subplot, about the creation of the famous “Chanel No. 5”, is managed wonderfully into the rest of the film, and by the time the film graciously comes to a close, though their relationship has fizzled, Kounen still finds a way to express the resonating heartbeats that lasted for the rest of their lives. “Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky” is wonderful portrait of two artists who found inspiration in the forbidden. [A-]
So yes, we liked it. As we noted, Kounen consistently restrains the film from spilling into soap-opera like hysterics, and the passion between Chanel and Stravinsky is positively electric thanks to the fantastic chemistry between Mikkelsen and Mouglalis. For North American audiences probably most familiar with Mikkelsen playing the baddie in “Casino Royale” or the mute warrior in “Valhalla Rising,” his performance will be an eye opener.
Passion between artists is often expressed on camera, but rarely with the depth and maturity found here. Kounen balances the attraction between the leads along with the artistic pursuits that consumes them almost as much as their love does. It’s a fascinating, beautifully woven story that’s worth a trip to your local arthouse.