Two movies about the legendary fashion icon in one year! I did not see the other one, "Coco before Chanel" – never a fan of Audrey Tautou. This one is in fact more Stravinsky than Chanel, and could be been re-titled "Le Sacre du Printemps - from disaster to triumph". When Chanel asserts that she is as "powerful" as Stravinsky he retorts that he is an artist while she is only a "shopkeeper". I'm not sure how much is lost in translation from the original French meaning in these two quoted words that appear in the sub-title. I suspect quit a bit. On a less artistic plane, there is simply no symmetry. Stravinsky is torn between two women (and one with a family to boot), a predicaments to which Chanel is immune.
The third lead in this movie is The Rite of Spring, Stravinsky's masterpiece is featured in a 20-miuntes scene at the beginning of this movie. This is an orchestration of a ballet performance in which a young girl dances herself to death as a sacrificial offering. If the subject matter was controversial at the time, the music was outright outrageous – way ahead of the contemporary (early 20th Century) audience's capacity to appreciate. Pierre Monteux, conductor of the Ballets Russes upon hearing Stravinsky's piano demonstration of the score, considered him "raving mad". The sequence in the movie recreates the scene from descriptions of people who were there: squirmed at first, then began to murmur, and then the whole theatre erupted into a monstrous cacophony of hoots, catcalls and hisses. The scene, however, also conveys the beauty of the music described by Stravinsky himself: each instrument is like a bud which grows on the bark of a venerable tree; it becomes part of an immense ensemble. And the entire orchestra, the entire ensemble, must take on the meaning of a rebirth of spring. Moving from instrument to instrument – melancholy woodwind, echoing brass, pulsating percussion and finally harmonizing string – the camera did full justice to Stravinsky's music.
The simple plot unfolds after this masterful introduction. Successful and wealthy Chanel undertakes the financial support of this unfortunate artist, moving his entire family (wife and 4 kids) into her plush villa, purportedly motivated entirely on her appreciation of his musical talents. To no one's surprise she eventually becomes his mistress. The subtle duel between wife-guest and mistress-host is underscored from the very beginning when Catherine Stravinsky combats her host's * for black and white décor by strategically placing in their bedroom red tapestry, the only thing she is really able to do under the circumstances. The first sex scene appears at exactly midway through the 2-hour movie. Both protagonists know exactly what they are doing. The movie drags on a little from there, and moves slowly towards a somewhat unspectacular conclusion.
The performance of Anna Mouglalis is mesmerizing. With her full lips, deep sensuous voice and model-perfect poise, you can't find a better Coco Chanel. There is never a moment's doubt as to who is in the driver's seat. Mada Mikkelsen I remember well from "King Arthur" (2004) as Tristan, the taciturn, cool-as-cucumber Sarmatian knight wielding a Tartan curved sword and carrying a scouting hawk on his shoulder. Here as Igor Stravinsky, he is dimmed by Mouglalis whenever the two appears together in a scene. But still, it's an adequate job. Yelena Morozova as Catherine Stravinsky is not to be overlooked. While An absolute underdog, with her sometimes almost eerie persona, she proves to be a match for Mouglalis' Chanel.
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