Film Review: Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky
The French film Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, follows the story of two passionate people who purportedly had an affair during the 1920s. The film opens in 1913 in Paris as a young Chanel is seen ripping off her corset (a radical feminist statement) illustrating her sense of independence. She is then seen attending the infamous opening night of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring where the majority of the audience is outraged by the “new” and “daring” performance. While the powerful music dominates the opening sequence, it feels overdrawn, due to the cyclical movement of the camera, which pans throughout the audience.
Black and white archival images of the war are then included to demonstrate the time lapse to the 1920s where the lonely Chanel invites Stravinsky and his family to live with her. The film thus follows the affair that supposedly occurred, as the beautiful, but manipulative woman seduces the married man.
There are a few divergences from their romance that show Chanel’s increasingly successful business, and Stravinsky’s struggling musical career (it is noted that his wife in fact edited all of his scores, and her departure seemed to impose on his work). We are also given an insight into the origin of Chanel’s most renowned perfume – after travelling to the French countryside, the very particular Chanel decided on the 5th option of fragrances; thus Chanel Number 5.
The lavish sets and elegant fashion dominate the film, as Chanel’s home is decorated with intricate black and white designs and she is always seen wearing lose fitting, but sophisticated dresses and coats, accessorised with pearls. The aesthetics are indeed the strong point in the film, as the plot is (while interesting) somewhat bland, and the climax is certainly unfulfilling. It concludes with one of Stravinsky’s performances, which is intercut with flash-forward images of two old, lonely people.
Anna Mouglalis portrayed this complex figure quite convincingly: Chanel is seen as strong, successful and independent, but is also a cold, arrogant and manipulative woman who chooses to seduce a married man. After the film I did a quick google search on Coco Chanel, and discovered that she was affiliated with a Nazi officer during World War 11, so she certainly has questionable morals. Regardless, as an admirer of her haute couture fashion, the film is a flawed, but interesting depiction of one of the most influential fashion designers in history.
