Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Chanel N.2

"the world's most legendary fragrance"
Who does not love Chanel? Fashion, accessories, perfumes... and who is not fascinated by the legendary Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel? In a few months we had two movies (hence the title) to understand her better: first came "Coco before Chanel" and lately "Coco and Igor Stravinsky". I will talk about the latter which is based on the fictional novel "Coco & Igor" by Chris Greenhalgh and describes the affair between Chanel and Stravinsky in Paris in 1920, the same year that Chanel N.5 was created.
"There is time for work, and time for love. That leaves no other time”
is one of Chanel's famous quotes and the movie talks about her at work and in love.
Jan Kounen, the director, shot both French/Russian-language (the one I saw) and English-language versions of the film. I was not particularly excited by the choice of Anna Mouglalis and Mads Mikkelsen impersonating Coco and Igor, they were a bit too static, she had not much visual expression and moved like a runaway model instead of a person so full of personality and complicated character as the real Coco. The same thoughts I had watching Audrey Taoutou in "Coco before Chanel". Yelena Morozova, acting as Igor's wife, instead made on me a better impression and her feelings of happiness, pride and at the end pain and betrayal were very well portrayed.

But let's talk a little about the Interior decoration, very appropriately executed in terms of style.
The beautiful house outside Paris where the love affair takes place surprised Stravinsky's wife at first glance with its black trims, not an usual choice for the time but we all know how much Chanel loved this color/non color. Even after moving in Madame Stravinskaya realizes that there is no color around and she tries to re-decorate her family's rooms putting a Russian colorful shawl on the bed headboard and other small items around. I thought it was a clever touch from the director to help describe more how different the two women were in every aspect.
Copyright Regine Abadia
Coco Chanel had a passion for white camellia flowers so quite appropriately the garden in the movie is filled with white flowers.

coco01g
Most of the interior white walls have black trims and black stencils reflecting the style of Art Deco which is evident also in the use of non-traditional materials such as glass, mirrors, chrome, and other human-made materials. The geometry is apparent in every room of the mansion, where there are steps, rounded corners, or repeated lines, they always have a basic geometrical foundation. The colors are rigorously white, black and metallics throughout the house.

ecranlarge.com Regine abadia
Even in the bathroom beautiful graphic black wood trims give personality to the otherwise simple room. If you'll go to see the movie please notice also the gorgeous black drapes in several rooms, just the right fullness... and all the graphic patterns on the rugs and the walls.

allocine.fr
Photographs from the movie by Régine Abadia
The dining room above appears to me more Art Nouveau than Art Deco but it gives more credibility to the story, since the mansion was supposed to be Coco's country house, obviously not decorated in one day but as in real life made of a few layers of style and objects acquired through the years.


chanel_kirkland_m
Chanel entering her store, 31 Rue Cambon, in 1962. Image by Douglas Kirkland
coco-chanel-appartement-paris-31-rue-cambon-profile
Rigorous black and white is still used in every Chanel store around the world. On 31 Rue Cambon, above the store, Coco had a glamorous, lavish apartment, mostly used for entertaining. In fact it did not have a bedroom so she walked every night to The Ritz Hotel across the street to sleep in her private luxurious suite. The famous mirrored staircase, which allowed Coco to view everything when she sat at the top, still remains unchanged. Her apartment, still intact, is filled with antiques and chinoiserie and it is surprisingly ornate, given her love of simple design, it looks nothing like the sleek interiors of the country house in the movie.

7-26-2010 11-07-23 AM

7-26-2010 11-08-44 AM

7-26-2010 11-09-57 AM
You can see more of her apartment if you click on this link: At Home with Chanel by Vogue.



Coco Chanel, 1920


Igor Stravinsky, 1921


A portrait by Man Ray



A portrait by Cecil Beaton



From the collection of the Metropolitan Museum



cocomodel_custom
Archive Photos/Getty images

"Fashion fades, only style remains the same" she used to say and so much style she had.
Back to the movie, the most appealing parts of "Coco & Igor Stravinsky" were the music and the interior decoration, the love story was exciting even if sad, the glamour of her life not so apparent and I wish I was in charge of the casting, I would have chosen Isabelle Huppert or Juliette Binoche, maybe Fanny Ardant a few years ago.
Who would you choose?

7 comments:

Dovecote Decor said...

I loved that post and will be heading to the movies!!

Pug1 said...

Fantastic post! Bravo! Cheers! Michele

Anonymous said...

I saw the movie this past weekend, and I agree with you totally. I would have selected Marion Cotillard for the role. She did a fantastic job bringing to life Edith Piaf's spirit in "La Vie En Rose."

Seeing "La Pausa" was a visual treat. What piece of furniture would have fitted there from "I am Love"?

Brillante Interiors said...

Anonymous...lucky you to have visited La Pausa. I have not seen it, a part of a few pictures with a later interior decoration (that Chanel would not have approved for sure). Villa Necchi and La Pausa are so different in style but I will think about your interesting question.

Paolo said...

Your review of the movie was spot on, watched the link of Coco, could not see the lamp I own anywhere, ended up watching other videos of Kiki, Man Ray, Fernand Legér, went back to your fabulous blog to this great image of you
with a nice little vase in the foreground, so I am now not disappointed at not finding my lamp.

Brillante Interiors said...

Paolo, the vase in the foreground was made by the master artist Vasil Vadan, from Bucharest. I will post soon a better picture of it.
Thanks for the kind comments everyone.

Ann said...

What a wonderful post! Am looking forward to the movie now.

-Ann

 
Clicky Web Analytics