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I like this film very much! I think, this is
one of the most successful attempts in the picturedom to tell about the
outstanding people's life of the day with needed in such a case deference
and tact, awakening the viewer's interest to the hero's personalities and
deviating from their real acts inasmuch as it gives a possibility to creat
the independent images of characters, allowing them to live with their own
life, but conserving many features of originals.
Gabrielle Chanel was then-a-days and is now the one of the most bright,
interesting, contradictive and talented women of 20th century. Being a person of
humble origin, she with her hard work, charm and desire to jump-up made the
folks about her to believe in herself and reached the acme of skill in her
profession of couturier, changing woman's appearance and giving her more freedom
and independence. "The elegant homeliness" or "the negligent grace" - this
probably could be the name of the style she found for clothes. At the different
times famous women dressed in conformity with the her latest fashion: Diana de
Rothshild and Jackeline Cannedy, Gala - the wife of Salvador Daly and Ingrid
Bergman, Romy Shnider and Jeane Moro…
During her long and eventful life Chanel met,
worked, caught fleas for and was a friend to many well-known men of her time.
And everybody could become a hero of separate movie - Cocto, Picasso, Diagilev,
Stravinsky, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich. But the authors of "Chanel" (playwriter
Julian More, director George Kaczender) confined the recital's scope with
the first 36 years of Coco's life, telling us about those of them, who helped
her to become this inimitable and inscrutable personality, whom was told
about a legend even during her life. (Coco - this nickname she has got at her
young times, when she sung the lilt with the same name in the provincial
estaminet.)
There are the two male characters in the
movie on whom the painting of private and creative Gabrielle's life hinges:
Etienne Bolsan, eccentric, sportsman, probably, wealthy man and unhappy lover
of Gabrielle, brilliantly performed by "Flying Dutchman" Rutger Hauer, and
Arthur Capel, Etienne's crony by nickname "Boy", the man, whoose love made
Coco stand up and go forward, surmounting difficulties, in the memorable
performing of Timothy Dalton. The part of Chanel was done by Marie-France
Pisier.
The movie is builded like the recollections of
youth for still young, beautiful, but sad Gabrielle, where every character
(Etienne, Boy, Coco's aunt Adrienna (performed by Brigitte Fossey) or her
friend Misia Sert) appears in the shot only with Chanel. This is the only one
exception - the scene of explanation between Etienne and Boy in the new Coco's
hatshop in Paris. It should seem, it's very hard - to creat the bright image
in a such situation. But Rutger and Timothy do it!
Dalton's character is very interesting man. He
is an Englishman with the mixture of Jewish blood. He received a good
education, but he was a good sportsman. He had a fine person and got on well
with women, showed discrimination in them, but could work, "make money", if
you want. He was interested in politics and he was very ambitious, dreaming
of not only successful career, but of obtaining a footing in society, where
he had almost got a refusal, because he was born "on the wrong side of blanket".
He was the only man, whom Chanel really loved, she said. He was the first who
had believed in her success, when she was completely unknown girl-friend of
Etienne, he had given her money and workroom for the beginning of her own
business… He resembled her very closely in many features, but he was
completely unusual, somehing made him special and created the difference
between him and the others among the interesting men, being near Chanel
during the last pre-war and the first war years in the beginning of 19th
century. And Timothy had to find this "something" to make Chanel's choice and
constancy well-taken.
Certainly, Timothy Dalton resembled Arthur
Capel very closely. Look at this photo of 1909, where Boy stands near
Gabrielle, who wore the special trousers ("galife") at the first time. But it
is impossible to build the role, using the only formal resemblance between
the actor and the original! I like Timothy found the little touch to Boy's
character, showing his oneness in the central scene of the movie.
This is
the scene of the short time returning to Doville during the war. Coco sits
near the sea, being on the desert beach, and reads the book. Good glasses
assist her to read - she wears them because of Boy's care about her eyes. He
comes gently and recites the two liric's lines: "Oh, I do pasear along the
sea, Oh I do go on along the sea…" , then he hums the tune of a song - and
you understand, that nobody else nowhere and never could not neither repeat
this piece of text and notes, like Tim had done it, nor construct anything
more suitable for this case to show in some seconds the soleness of Arthur.
And else… after this scene - you are captivated by Tim, not only Coco!
I like Coco and Boy are idealized in this movie.
Their relationships, their love, having been bright and strong in the real
life, is here poeticized. For example, after getting the new about Arthur's
decision to marry another woman Chanel in the movie takes the snippers and
makes the symbolic veil upon herself as if she were in a despair, though in
the real life she not only broke off with her lover, but she still met him
after his wedding… As for history of the creation of well-known Chanel's close
haircut, in the real life it had completely different hue.
The secret of this movie's success is in it's
beautiful sound track too. First of all I must mention the name of Jean Musy,
who has rejoiced us not only with admirable music theme, but with the fine
chosen music of those days to illustrate the main scenes. Do you remember the
waltz from "The Merry Widow" by Franz Lehar? It sounds during Chanel's blague
with lionnes in the "Maxim"restaurant. And how wonderful was the scene of
Coco's and Boy's dinner in Doville before the moment of the the Great War
announcement - the orchestra playes Allegro I from The Little Night Music by
Mozart, some moments passed and you hear Marseillaise… You see widows with
tears on their eyes near the Lists of the fallen and the desert beach of
formerly noisy town, you see Gabrielle walking along the sea, you hear the
squawks of seagulls, accompanied with the melody of the base musical theme
"One and Only". This theme will obsess you for a long time after seeing this
movie…
I like Dalton's Arthur Capel is unliked to the
characters of another prom-trotters, men of overpowering beauty from Timothy's
former and consecutive works. The actor's ability to find the new where it
seems to be impossible to do is apparently one of the strong and attractive
sides of Dalton's actor's gift.
For those, who like me is interested in
knowing more about the characters from this movie, I recommend the book
"Inscrutable Chanel" by Edmonda Sharles-Roux, published in Russia in 1997.
This is the translation from French Language into Russian of the next
edition: Edmonda Charles-Roux de l'Academie Goncourt. "L'Irreguliere on mon
itineraire Chanel". Paris. 1986.
Ê.Å., 1999
Order in Amazon
[Genre]
[Character]
[Chronology]
[1960 - 70-th]
[80-th]
[1990-th]
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