Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
Encyclopedia
Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is a 2009 French film directed by Jan Kounen
Jan Kounen
Jan Kounen is a Dutch-born French film director and producer.In France, he is mostly known for his films Dobermann , Blueberry, l'experience secrete and 99 francs ....

. It was chosen as the Closing Film of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...

, and was shown on 24 May 2009.

Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is based on the 2002 fictional novel Coco & Igor
Coco & Igor
Coco and Igor is a 2002 novel by Chris Greenhalgh.Set mainly in Paris in 1920, the novel is based on a possible real-life affair between Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky.-Plot summary:...

by Chris Greenhalgh
Chris Greenhalgh
Chris Greenhalgh is a British novelist, screenwriter, teacher and poet.-Life:Chris Greenhalgh was born in 1963 and brought up in Manchester. After studying English literature at university, he lived and worked for five years in Italy and Athens. Upon his return to England, he completed his doctoral...

 and traces a rumoured affair between Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...

 and Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....

 in Paris in 1920, the year that Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 is the first perfume launched by Parisian couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. The French government reports that a bottle of Chanel No. 5 is sold every thirty seconds and generates sales of $100 million a year. It was developed by Russian-French chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux...

 was created. Greenhalgh also wrote the screenplay for the film. Chanel
Chanel
Chanel S.A. is a French fashion house founded by the couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, well established in haute couture, specializing in luxury goods . She gained the name "Coco" while maintaining a career as a singer at a café in France...

 and its current chief designer Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld
Karl Lagerfeld is a German fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. He has collaborated on a variety of fashion and art related projects, most notably as head designer and creative director for the fashion house Chanel...

 lent their support to the production; they granted access to the company's archives and to Coco Chanel's apartment at 31, rue Cambon, Paris. The film was released in very close proximity to Anne Fontaine
Anne Fontaine (filmmaker)
Anne Fontaine is a filmmaker and screenwriter who used to be an actor. She lives and works in France.Born Fontaine Sibertin-Blanc, sister of actor Jean-Chrétien Sibertin-Blanc, she went as a young child to live in Lisbon, where her father, Antoine Sibertin-Blanc, is a music professor and cathedral...

's Coco avant Chanel starring Audrey Tautou
Audrey Tautou
Audrey Justine Tautou is a French model and film actress, best known for playing the title character in the award-winning 2001 film Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain, Sophie Neveu in the 2006 thriller The Da Vinci Code, Irène in Priceless and Coco Chanel in Coco avant Chanel...

.

Plot

An introductory scene takes place in Paris in 1913, where Coco Chanel
Coco Chanel
Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...

 attends the first, scandalous performance of Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....

’s The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...

. The rhythmic dissonance of the score and the surprising choreography of the piece result in heckling and outrage among much of the audience. But Chanel is impressed by Stravinsky and his music.

Seven years later, Chanel and Stravinsky meet again. Although her business has flourished, Chanel is mourning the death of her lover, Arthur "Boy" Capel
Boy Capel
Captain Arthur Edward "Boy" Capel CBE was an English polo player, possibly best-remembered for being a lover and muse of fashion designer Coco Chanel.-Biography:...

. Stravinsky has chosen to flee to France following the Russian Revolution. An immediate sympathy and attraction occurs between the ‘couturiere’ and the composer.

Chanel invites Stravinsky to live in her villa outside Paris, along with his ailing wife and their children. The summer months that follow see Chanel and Stravinsky begin an affair, one which Stravinsky's wife can not avoid becoming aware of. Tensions between Stravinsky and his wife, and between Stravinsky's wife and Chanel, are unavoidable.

The film implies that the affair, and the later termination of the affair by Chanel, has a major influence on the lives of both Chanel and Stravinsky. It is during this time that Chanel creates Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5
Chanel No. 5 is the first perfume launched by Parisian couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel. The French government reports that a bottle of Chanel No. 5 is sold every thirty seconds and generates sales of $100 million a year. It was developed by Russian-French chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux...

 with her perfumer, Ernest Beaux
Ernest Beaux
Ernest Beaux , was a Russian and French perfumer best known for creating Chanel No. 5, perhaps the world's most famous perfume.- Family background :...

, and that Stravinsky begins to compose in a new, more liberated style. Especially the termination of the affair is implied to have inspired some of the most moving passages in Stravinsky's new composition.

Cast

  • Mads Mikkelsen
    Mads Mikkelsen
    ' is a Danish actor.-Life and career:Mikkelsen was born in the Østerbro area of Copenhagen, the son of Bente Christiansen and Henning Mikkelsen, a cab driver. He is the brother of actor Lars Mikkelsen. After attending Århus Theatre School, he made his film debut in the movie Pusher...

     as Igor Stravinsky
    Igor Stravinsky
    Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....

  • Anna Mouglalis
    Anna Mouglalis
    -Biography:Anna Mouglalis was born in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, to her Greek father and French mother. She spent her youth in the Var département, before moving back to Nantes with her family. Her father is a doctor and her mother is a masseuse. Until 2001 she studied at the Conservatoire National...

     as Coco Chanel
    Coco Chanel
    Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel was a pioneering French fashion designer whose modernist thought, menswear-inspired fashions, and pursuit of expensive simplicity made her an important figure in 20th-century fashion. She was the founder of one of the most famous fashion brands, Chanel...

  • Elena Morozova as Catherine Stravinsky
  • Natacha Lindinger as Misia Sert
    Misia Sert
    Misia Sert was a pianist of Polish descent who hosted an artistic salon in Paris...

  • Grigori Manoukov as Sergei Diaghilev
    Sergei Diaghilev
    Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev , usually referred to outside of Russia as Serge, was a Russian art critic, patron, ballet impresario and founder of the Ballets Russes, from which many famous dancers and choreographers would arise.-Early life and career:...

  • Rasha Bukvic as Grand Duke Dmitri
    Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia
    Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia was a Russian imperial dynast. He is known for being involved in the murder of the mystic peasant faith healer Grigori Rasputin, who he felt held undue sway over Tsar Nicholas II.-Early life:Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich was born at Ilinskoe near Moscow, the...

  • Erick Demarestz as The Doctor
  • Nicolas Vaude as Ernest Beaux
    Ernest Beaux
    Ernest Beaux , was a Russian and French perfumer best known for creating Chanel No. 5, perhaps the world's most famous perfume.- Family background :...

  • Anatole Taubman
    Anatole Taubman
    Anatole Taubman is a Swiss actor, who has appeared in many films, such as a henchman in the latest James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace and as the monk Remigius in the TV miniseries The Pillars of the Earth.-References:...

     as Boy Capel
    Boy Capel
    Captain Arthur Edward "Boy" Capel CBE was an English polo player, possibly best-remembered for being a lover and muse of fashion designer Coco Chanel.-Biography:...

  • Maxime Danielou as Theodore
  • Sophie Hasson as Ludmila
  • Nikita Ponomarenko as Soulima
  • Clara Guelblum as Milene
  • Olivier Claverie as Joseph
  • Catherine Davenier as Marie
  • Marek Kossakowski as Nijinsky
    Vaslav Nijinsky
    Vaslav Nijinsky was a Russian ballet dancer and choreographer of Polish descent, cited as the greatest male dancer of the 20th century. He grew to be celebrated for his virtuosity and for the depth and intensity of his characterizations...

  • Jérôme Pillement as Pierre Monteux
    Pierre Monteux
    Pierre Monteux was an orchestra conductor. Born in Paris, France, Monteux later became an American citizen.-Life and career:Monteux was born in Paris in 1875. His family was descended from Sephardi Jews who came to France in the wake of the Spanish Inquisition. He studied violin from an early age,...

  • David Tomaszewski as Principal Violinist
  • Marek Tomaszewski as Pianist
  • Anton Yakovlev as Piotr
  • Irina Vavilova as The Governess
  • Julie Farenc Deramond as Julie the salesgirl
  • Emy Levy and Sarah Jérôme as Workshop girls
  • Tina Sportolaro as Beaux’s secretary
  • Michel Ruhl as The Baron
  • Pierre Chidyvar, Agnès Vikouloff and Sacha Vikouloff as Russian musicians
  • David Baschung as The Doctor
  • Cyril Accorsi, Matthieu Bajolet, Caroline Baudouin, Bruno Benne, Jonathan Ber, Laura Biasse, Barbara Caillieu, Marie-Laure Caradec, Damien Dreux, Sophie Gérard, Patrick Harlay, Inès Hernandez, Anne Laurent, Thibaud Le Maguer, Anne Lenglet, Olivier Normand, Florent Otello, Edouard Pelleray, Judith Perron, Pascal Queneau, Enora Rivère, Julie Salgues, Jonathan Schatz, Wu Zheng (dancers in The Rite of Spring
    The Rite of Spring
    The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...

    )

Reception

Reviews were mixed. Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden is an American writer, music critic, film critic, and poet.Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963...

 of the New York Times said the film was “cool, elegant and sexy…. But the film … never regains that initial blast of energy and the final scenes wobble toward a wishy-washy ending.” Writing for DVD Talk
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...

, Casey Burchby praises the "extraordinarily bold" opening sequence that recreates the Paris premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring
The Rite of Spring, original French title Le sacre du printemps , is a ballet with music by Igor Stravinsky; choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky; and concept, set design and costumes by Nicholas Roerich...

.

External links

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