Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky

R

Released Jun 11, 2010

2h 0m

Drama

Romance

List

52%

94 Reviews

Tomatometer

43%

10,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

A passionate affair between two creative giants begins after French couturiere Coco Chanel (Anna Mouglalis) invites the destitute Russian composer (Mads Mikkelsen) and his family to live in her villa.

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Critics Consensus

It's well-acted and beautifully filmed, but Jan Kounen's dramatization of the affair between his famous subjects is curiously short on passion.

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R 9

'Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky' is nothing all that bad, there just isn't that much overly good about it either - in my opinion, of course. The acting, spearheaded by Mads Mikkelsen and Anna Mouglalis, is all fair, the music is actually solid (the film's strongest element, I'd say) though everything else is either underwhelming or simply average. This 2009 release looks good onscreen, however I needed more from it personally. Mikkelsen & Mouglalis put in shifts but I wouldn't say the overall acting elevates the film all that much, which was very much needed due to a rather dull plot. I don't mind a slow pace, but there needs to be some sort of pay-off at the end... there just isn't here. It was cool to learn a bit more about these two people, mind you.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

10/08/23

Full Review

Beth S

An aesthetic feast for the ears and the eyes. Gorgeous clothing, beautiful sets and riveting, sad, and complex music, were a delight to behold. Mads Mikkelsen, as usual, gave a great performance.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/20/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Great on so many levels. I'm divided about the last scene, but still so good.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/18/23

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Audience Member

French (mostly) with subtitles. I would class this as an arthouse film rather than mainstream, but it is an excellent film for its genre. Who knows how much of this is true or accurate but it makes for a good film. The first thing that strikes you is the extreme contrast used in the cinematography. I initially thought my projector was broken - It's like a cinema version of the chiaroscuro technique of the painter Caravaggio (for example google the painting 'Salome receives the Head of John the Baptist'). The dialogue is also extremely sparse - each sentence spoken is like a full stop after a long non-verbal scene. And of course the music of Stravinsky accompanies us through each scene. Another thing that impresses is the linguistic range of the successful lead male Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen - I've seen him in Danish, English, Russian, French and Swedish language films and TV. In this film Coco Channel is an extraordinary person - hard as steel as a boss, she knows exactly what she wants and demands it with a low-key determined voice. She inspects her shop staff each morning - "your nails are too long and vulgar', then some staff have the temerity to dare ask for a raise - "Don't you even think of asking for a raise" she says before they even open their mouths. Later in the film we see her coolly assessing the development of the famous Chanel No 5 perfume - she is absolutely unimpressed with bullshit and drives her expert perfumer towards the scent she wants - and as the whole world knows, she gets. The film begins with Coco attending a Stravinsky scored ballet in 1913 which is so avant-garde that people walk out in outrage. Coco is clearly intrigued by the maverick Russian composer. Seven years go by and she comes across him and invites him and his family including four children to reside in her chateau, so he can compose his music in peace. His wife is lethally ill with TB and he accepts. It is an extraordinary house - the windows are blacked out and there is no colour at all in the house, just black and white, his wife asks of Coco "Don't you like colour?" - Coco replies "Of course, as long as it is black". Stravinsky composes his music and his life-long childhood sweet-heart wife corrects his mistakes. They were clearly made for each other. But there is a sexual tension between Coco and Stravinsky which inevitably become infidelity. His wife and even his children are acutely aware of this as they have to share the same house. A key moment between his ill wife and Coco - "Don't you feel any guilt?" and Coco stares coolly at her and replies coldly "No". However there is no emotional chemistry there - yes they lust after each other and indulge many times. There is key dialogue that explains their attitude just after making love - he sits by the bed and Coco coldly says "I am as strong as you Igor and more successful" and Igor replies "Yes, but I am an artist and you are just a shopkeeper". She doesn't understand art except as a collector, (even Stravinsky is part of her collection) but wants to do so, so she is very generous as a patron, even financing anonymously an entire season of ballet worth a third of a million francs. And towards the end of their lives, many decades later, it is apparent that they made a lasting impression on one another.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The opening sequence is extremely gripping. I don't know what happened afterwards but at least I enjoyed the literary depth the film tried to convey.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

But The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge out of Water is 26% better than this according to this site so...

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

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Jan Kounen

Director

Anna Mouglalis

Coco Chanel

Mads Mikkelsen

Igor Stravinsky

Elena Morozova

Catherine Stravinsky

Natacha Lindinger

Misia Sert

Grigori Manoukov

Sergeï Diaghilev

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Dan Kois

Washington Post

Beautiful but indulgent.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 16, 2010

Full Review

Steve Rose

Guardian

The whole movie has the immaculate visual gloss of a Chanel advert, which is no bad thing.

Rated: 3/5

Aug 6, 2010

Full Review

Matt Bochenski

Little White Lies

It's a tragic and sophisticated love story.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 6, 2010

Full Review

Rene Jordan

El Nuevo Herald (Miami)

Gains profundity with Danish actor, Mads Mikkelsen. [Full review in Spanish]

Oct 11, 2022

Full Review

Andrea Hubert

NME (New Musical Express)

If the aftertaste desired is one of artistic expression taking the place of human emotion, then job well done. But I highly doubt I'd have cared as little for either genius in the flesh as I did for their representation here.

Rated: 3/5

May 19, 2021

Full Review

Joanne Laurier

World Socialist Web Site

Virtually nothing of these extraordinary times and figures is captured in this flashy dual biography.

Aug 18, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

A passionate affair between two creative giants begins after French couturiere Coco Chanel (Anna Mouglalis) invites the destitute Russian composer (Mads Mikkelsen) and his family to live in her villa.

Director: Jan Kounen
Screenwriter: Chris Greenhalgh, Carlo De Boutiny, Jan Kounen
Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics
Production Co: Wild Bunch, Filmazure, Région Ile-de-France, Centre national de la Cinématographie, Hexagon Pictures, Cinémage 3, Eurowide Film Production, Canal+, TPS Star
Rating: R (Some Strong Sexuality|Nudity)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 11, 2010, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 12, 2010
Box Office (Gross USA): $1.7M
Runtime: 2h 0m

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