Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky / Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. FR (c) 2009 Eurowide Film Production. D: Jan Kounen. SC: Chris Greenhalgh - adaptation: Carlo Boutiny, Jan Kounen - based on the book Coco & Igor (GB 2002) by Chris Greenhalgh. DP: David Ungaro - colour - scope 2,35:1. M: Igor Stravinsky. "Sacre du printemps" (1913 / 1947) perf. Berliner Philharmoniker, cond. Simon Rattle. "Symphonie d'instruments à vent" (1920 / 1947). "Sonate" (1924). "Les cinq doigts" (1921). "Cinq pièces faciles" (1917) int. by Christophe Bukudjian. "Glorification of the Chosen One". CAST: Mads Mikkelsen (Igor Stravinsky), Anna Mouglalis (Coco Chanel), Elena Morozova (Catherine Stravinsky), Grigori Manoukov (Sergeï Diaghilev), Anatole Taubman (Boy Capel), Marek Kossakowski (Nijinsky). 118 min. A Cinema Mondo release with Finnish / Swedish subtitles by Outi Kainulainen / Ditte Kronström. Viewed at Maxim 1, Helsinki, 5 Sep 2009 (Finnish premiere weekend). - A digital intermediate look obvious in the park footage. - The fact is that Coco Chanel was a mentor of Igor Stravinsky and accommodated his family after the Russian Revolution. This film is based on the rumour that they had also an affair which hade a life-long significance. They both died in 1971. - The film starts with an exciting reconstruction of the premiere of Sacre du printemps, one of the epochal events in the history of music. It includes an interesting account of Igor Stravinsky's creative process and his inspired pedagogical touch. The film portrays Stravinsky as a tender family man with a strong sense of responsibility who also enjoys an affair on the side. - The film portrays Coco Chanel as a tough designer, quality controller and taskmaster (can one say taskmistress?). A sequence is devoted to the development of the Chanel 5 perfume. - Jan Kounen has created a classy, traditional biopic on two unconventional, talented people. - Mads Mikkelsen is good as Stravinsky. From Anna Mouglalis one would expect more expressions as Chanel. - As for the music, the first notes of Sacre du printemps are repeated maybe too often. Stravinsky had a long, rich and creative life during six decades.

There has been a previous film called Chanel solitaire (GB/FR/US 1981) with Marie-France Pisier as Coco Chanel, Timothy Dalton as Boy Capel, and Rutger Hauer as Etienne de Balsan.

Coco Chanel's film credits include costumes for Jean Renoir's La Règle du jeu (1939).

When Marilyn Monroe was asked what she had on when the Golden Dreams photos were taken, she answered: "just the radio", and "Chanel 5".