Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
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)
- Director:
- Jan Kounen ('99 Francs')
- Writer:
- Jan KounenCarlo De BoutinyChris Greenhalgh
- Cast:
- Mads MikkelsenAnna MouglalisElena MorozovaNatacha LindingerGrigori ManoukovRasha Bukvic
Reviews & comments
Visually and Aurally Appealing
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, a film by Jan Kounen , was the closing film of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It is the story of a brief affair between Coco Chanel and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky in the 1930s. Opening with the scandalous debut of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, this film never ceases to be visually or aurally appealing. Mads Mikkelsen's...
Beautifully told
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...
Variety
pressDelivers 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.
Urban Cinefile
pressI 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.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressCoco 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.
Variety
pressDelivers 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.
Urban Cinefile
pressI 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.
Sydney Morning Herald
pressCoco 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.
Visually and Aurally Appealing
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, a film by Jan Kounen , was the closing film of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It is the story of a brief affair between Coco Chanel and Russian composer Igor Stravinsky in the 1930s. Opening with the scandalous debut of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, this film never ceases to be visually or aurally appealing. Mads...
Beautifully told
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...
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