Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2009)
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Reviews Counted: 90
Fresh: 47 | Rotten: 43
It's well-acted and beautifully filmed, but Jan Kounen's dramatization of the affair between his famous subjects is curiously short on passion.
Average Rating: 6/10
Critic Reviews: 21
Fresh: 10 | Rotten: 11
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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Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 19,285
Movie Info
The brief love affair between two 20th century icons is dramatized in this period drama from director Jan Kounen. Igor Stravinsky (Mads Mikkelsen) was one of Europe's most promising new composers when in 1913 he premiered his ballet Le Sacre du Printemps (aka The Rite of Spring); the piece proved to be wildly controversial, and the audience at the Paris debut was vocal in their disgust, ruining Stravinsky's reputation for years. One patron who did like the performance was Coco Chanel (Anna
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Cast
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Anna Mouglalis
Coco Chanel -
Mads Mikkelsen
Igor Stravinsky -
Elena Morozova
Catherine Staravinsky -
Natacha Lindinger
Misia Sert -
Grigori Manoukov
Sergei Diaghilev -
Rasha Bukvic
Grand Duke Dimitri -
Nicolas Vaude
Ernest Beaux -
Anatole Taubman
Boy Capel -
Erick Desmarestz
The Doctor -
Clara Guelblum
Milène Stravinsky, Mil... -
Maxime Danielou
Théodore Stravinsky, T... -
Sophie Hasson
Ludmilla Stravinsky -
Catherine Davenier
Marie -
Olivier Claverie
Joseph -
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All Critics (90) | Top Critics (21) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (43) | DVD (2)
Beautiful but indulgent.
Anna Mouglalis makes for an icier Coco than Audrey Tautou, hardened by the death in 1919 of Boy Capel, the love of her life.
Too much of the time, the film seems intoxicated by its own sense of importance.
Two narcissists do not a couple make, and without any actual relationship, there really isn't a movie.
There's fascinating material here, but instead Kounen and screenwriter Chris Greenhalgh too often settle for giving us a conventional and even dull love triangle: self-absorbed career woman, ailing wife, passive man torn between the two of them.
Jan Kounen's film is ravishingly beautiful, but inhumanly cool. The severe black-and-white deco interiors of Chanel's estate suggest an elegant chessboard where pitiless mind games are being played.
An electrifying opening, a bit of a slog afterwards.
Stravinsky refuses to acknowledge [Chanel] as his artistic equal: 'You are not an artist, you are a shopkeeper' ... After this put-down, the couple's romance fizzles out ...
In the end, "Coco & Igor" doesn't really go anywhere, and it never quite equals the chaotic energy of that opening theater scene. But it's gorgeous to look at, as Kounen melds the heady visuals with Stravinsky's sweeping score.
This thin slice of so-called history is both so narrow in focus and out of focus that even the most devoted fans are likely to be disappointed.
...is a curious and moderately interesting film that, like many an initially torrid affair, eventually devolves into desultory ennui
It's beautifully shot and acted, but as with Coco Before Chanel last year, the one thing audiences will most want to know goes unanswered again: What makes this remarkable woman tick?
It's well-shot and stylish, but slow and rather dull, with emotionally distant characters and a weak ending.
Mouglalis lacks Audrey Tautou's feisty pluck but makes up for it with Gallic froideur, while Mads Mikkelsen broods as a tortured artist.
This French film's beginning is as brilliant as anything I've seen all year; unfortunately, most of the rest of the movie never lives up to that.
Refuses to dumb down its subjects for the sake of easy accessibility (the actors are truthful rather than likeable).
Stilted performances and an odd whimper of an ending are further flaws in this good-looking but turgid period piece.
The whole movie has the immaculate visual gloss of a Chanel advert, which is no bad thing.
While it's not a particularly imaginative movie, it's a great-looking one...
It's a tragic and sophisticated love story.
The film quickly turns into a dull slog.
Morozova's sulky silence is a suitable counterpoint to the imperious, independent performance of Anna Mouglalis as Chanel.
A beautifully designed but overly formal biopic that can't match the greatness of the artists it depicts.
Do I have to say it again? Celebrity is not drama.
Audience Reviews for Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Marie: Don't you ever feel guilty?
- Coco Chanel: No.
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