Picking up where Coco avant Chanel left off, focusing on the period when Chanel (here played by Anna Mouglalis) became Stravinsky’s (Mads Mikkelsen) artistic benefactor, this film offers a darker second chapter to the designer’s long biography.
In 1920 she befriended the great revolutionary composer and his family, offering the penniless and homeless musician refuge in her country mansion. There have been rumours that Coco and Igor had an affair at this time.
Director Jan Kounen has worked with writer Chris Greenhalgh to adapt his book Coco and Igor which takes this premise and spins it into an intimate portrait of a fearless modern woman attracted to an equally indomitable man. Shot at many of the original locations and superbly mounted from start to finish, the film opens with a breathtaking recreation of the famous riot provoked at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées by the 1913 premiere of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. Chanel sits in the audience electrified by her future lover’s assault on bourgeois propriety. (Source: World Cinema Showcase 2010)
In my book, any film that recreates the debut of The Rite of Spring is awesome. This film is beautifully shot. The storyline is very biopic - as in this happened, then that happened, then this happened - which can be a bit boring. But it is beautiful. They constantly reference the opening of The Rite of Spring, but not other pieces from Stravinsky's work. That gets on the nerves a little - why not reference other pieces? But it's good to see a composer stretching and warming up to writing as a boxer would. Not quite 5 out of 5. A strong 4.
Ravishing to look at but almost devoid of personal
Coco and Igor manages to drag this sorry, unseemly yet hardly earth shattering affair into a two hour snore fest that barely leaves Coco's house and will leave you wishing you hadn't left yours.
I was intrigued by this fascinating film whose seduction goes far beyond the affair between Coco and Igor. We are seduced by the music, the exquisite production design (influenced by Coco's penchant for black and white) and the beautiful settings. The clothes are fabulous, too. Although the ending does not work at all (director Jan Kounen has made a severe misjudgment here), there is enough substance to the rest of the work to make it a pleasure.
Delivers an impressive combo of sights and sounds in its depiction of the brief, tumultuous affair the two artists had in the early 1920s. However, on a dramatic level, Dutch-born helmer Jan Kounen’s hyper-stylized, emotionally vacuous film is like a pair of designer pants that look great but don’t fit, or a rare vinyl recording that keeps skipping at the best parts.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 3rd Jun 2010.
Release date: June 3rd 2010.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
