Audrey Tautou

Chanel No. 2

By Chris Betros

TOKYO —

French fashion designer Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel is in vogue this year. The iconic designer of the “little black dress,” who died in 1971 at the age of 87, has so far been the subject of two films this year. First, Shirley MacLaine played the older Chanel in the American production “Coco Chanel,” and now French actress Audrey Tautou portrays the younger version in the French-language film “Coco avant Chanel” (Coco before Chanel).

Tautou, 33, is a fitting choice since she will also be the new face for the perfume Chanel No. 5, taking over from Nicole Kidman in a series of international ad campaigns starting in November.

Making her 4th visit to Japan, the tall and slender Tautou said she learned some unexpected things about Chanel when she doing research. “What surprised me most of all was that she never had any interest in becoming a designer when she was young. She had aspirations to become a singer and dancer. She saw that as her way out of poverty.”

Directed by Anne Fontaine (“The Girl From Monaco”) and based on a book by Edmonde Charles-Roux, “Coco avant Chanel” looks at the events that shaped Chanel’s life early on. After being orphaned, she worked as a seamstress while singing at night. Eventually, she clawed her way up in French society thanks to some opportune relationships with highly-placed men. “There is no doubt that she was ahead of her time,” said Tautou. “Her independence and fierce spirit were like a beacon for women to come.”

Tautou, who shot to fame in France in the 2001 film “Le fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain,” is perhaps best known to English-speaking audiences for her co-starring role with Tom Hanks in “The Da Vinci Code” (2006). She said she likes playing strong-willed characters, but added that she really didn’t have much in common with Chanel. “I didn’t try to copy her mannerisms or anything. Being born in the same month and in the same region of France is about all we have in common.”

The film has come in for some heavy criticism overseas for omitting the controversial aspects of Chanel’s life (one of her lovers, with whom she lived in a swank Paris hotel, was a Nazi spy in occupied France and Chanel herself was arrested for being a collaborator but war crimes charges were mysteriously dropped). She was also allegedly anti-Semetic and homophobic.

However, Tautou dodged all that, emphasizing that she just wanted to portray Chanel as a young woman and show how her early poverty might have shaped her creativity. “It was hard to find out much about her early life. There are very few records of her having spoken about it,” she said.

The actress, who naturally wore Chanel during her official functions in Japan, said she likes the simple and elegant hallmarks of the designer’s creations. “Millions of women owe Coco Chanel a lot of thanks for liberating them from corsets and padding,” she said.

The Chanel story will continue in January with yet another film, “Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky,” which looks at the rumored affair between the two luminaries. “Her life had so many interesting episodes. I don’t think anyone knows how much is true or not, but her influence on the way women dress, even today, is undeniable,” Tautou said.

“Coco avant Chanel” opens in Japan on Sept 18.