Several years after leaving the orphanage, to which her father never returned for her, Gabrielle Chanel finds herself working in a provincial bar. She's both a seamstress for the performers and a singer, earning the nickname Coco from the song she sings nightly with her sister. A liaison with Baron Balsan gives her an entree into French society and a chance to develop her gift for designing.

Audrey Tautou
as Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel

Benoît Poelvoorde
as Étienne Balsan

Alessandro Nivola
as Arthur 'Boy' Capel

Marie Gillain
as Adrienne Chanel

Emmanuelle Devos
as Émilienne d'Alençon

Régis Royer
as Alec, Jockey

Étienne Bartholomeus
as Balsan Butler

Yan Duffas
as Maurice de Nexon

Fabien Béhar
as Shop Boss

Roch Leibovici
as Jean, Groom
CinemaSerf
Audrey Tautou is actually quite impressive here as the legendary French designer, but the rest of this rather blandly photographed melodrama is really more about her love life than her career. She's born Gabrielle and having left the orphanage in which she was abandoned with sister Adrienne (Marie G...