With fall and fashion being in the air, and the Emmy nominated made-for-TV movie “Coco Chanel” (starring Oscar® winner Shirley MacLaine), the name Chanel has taken on new meaning as the person behind the name comes to the forefront. A French couturière (designer) in the 1900’s, her simple but sophisticated fashions were a radical departure from the stiff, corseted styles for women at the time.

Several years after leaving the orphanage, Gabrielle Chanel (Audrey Tautou) finds herself working in a French provincial cabaret. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, earning the nickname “Coco” from the song she sings nightly with her sister (Marie Gillain). A chance meeting at the cabaret with Baron Balsan (Benoît Poelvoorde) gives her an entree into French society and the opportunity to develop her gift for designing increasingly popular hats for women. Although marriage is not in the Baron’s plans, the liaison between the two is a workable situation. Complications do set in when she falls in love with a business associate of the Baron, English businessman Arthur Capel (Alessandro Nivola), as he provides more opportunities for her fashion creations.

Writer/director Anne Fontaine presents a look at the early years of Gabrielle Chanel from her childhood in an orphanage to her rise as a top designer. For those of us who know of Coco Chanel, who passed away in 1971, the question of why she never married becomes apparent. Actress Audrey Tautou (“The Da Vinci Code” 2006) in the tile role, delivers a performance that could land her an Oscar® nomination! “Coco Before Chanel” is in French with English subtitles but don’t let that keep you from a moving story.

Starring Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain, Emmanuelle Devos, Régis Royer, and Etienne Bartholomeus.