Coco Before Chanel

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In the first of two Chanel biopics to hit the big screen this year, Coco Before Chanel, which does exactly what it says on the tin and spans the years before the fashion icon made her big breakthrough, takes its cue from the fashion industry - it doesn't matter how you feel, it's how you look that is important. Anne Fontaine's film is gorgeous but lifeless.

The story kicks off in 1893 where Coco (Lisa Cohen), or Gabrielle to give her real name, is dropped off at an orphanage by an uncaring father. Fast-forward 15 years and Coco grows up to be the hard and cynical Audrey Tautou, who makes ends meet by working days as seamstresses and nights as cabaret dancer with her sister Adrienne (Gillain). Taken under the wing by the rich Etienne (Poelvoorde, Man Bites Dog), Coco becomes his in-house lover but has to 'sing for her supper' by entertaining his guests at his rolling parties. In designing hats for Etienne's well-to-do friends, however, Coco begins to outgrow Etienne's playboy lifestyle. Enter the moustachioed Alessandro Nivola (in Midge Ure circa Vienna era mode) as the wealthy, self-made businessman Arthur Capel. With Capel's encouragement, Coco's imagination runs wild and her real talents for design emerge.

La Vie En Rose meets Becoming Jane is the pitch for Coco Before Chanel and it never quite escapes those comparisons. The fact that many scenes tend to drag do not help either. To Fontaine's credit, the slow transition from flowery, over-dressed costumes to Chanel's minimum style is effortless. Ditto the cinematography - Christophe Beaucarne's camera gracefully moves through the stately homes and impressive gardens of the day, bringing the era to life. It's a pity the lead didn't measure up. There's nothing to Tautou - doleful and aloof is all she seems able to play and even though that's all that's called for here, we're left feeling cold and distant by her Chanel. It's tough to care what happens to her when she doesn't care what happens to anyone. Sure, she visits her sister once in a while, but that relationship is painted more like a close friendship than sisterhood.

It's the two male leads that shine, though. Benoit Poelvoorde has the best character to work with: we never know what he's thinking, if he'll turn nasty at any moment, and his jumbled feelings when it comes to Coco give certain scenes an edge where they wouldn't otherwise. The heart of the film, however, belongs to Nivola; the movie floats about in the second act, desperately needing a real love story to get it going and Coco… only springs to life when Tautou is pitted opposite Nivola's charming and restrained performance. Their love story is by far and away the most interesting aspect on show.