Sunday 16 August 2009

Coco Avant Chanel

While we're on the subject of Chanel, I thought I'd post the link for the interview I did with Audrey Tautou in the Sunday Telegraph. By the way, there is no 'e' on the end of Chanel in my book title, despite appearances to the contrary on the Telegraph website. And Chanel buffs will have already noticed the anachronisms and inaccuracies in the Tautou movie -- though I enjoyed it, anyway, and Audrey T. looks remarkably like the young Chanel. Glorious costumes, too.

21 comments:

Lilacs said...

Lovely, thank you.
'Handsome parasite' to describe the imagination, oooooh.

Justine Picardie said...

She was always one for a sharp aphorism...

kairu said...

Lovely article/interview with Audrey Tautou. I really only know her as Amélie, but I can see her as the young Chanel. I love that in this age of too much information, she is so fiercely private. And I love the Chanel ad directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

Looking at the video interview, you see for (at least for me) the first time that when she is not smiling, serious, Tautou has that same burning intensity, those same black eyes that John Fairchild describes in 'Fashionable Savages.' Perfect casting!

harriet said...

Great interview -- thanks for posting the link. I loved the film but obviously was not well enough informed to spot the anachronisms. Look forward to your book -- but how irritating for you that the paper mis spelled the title!

Justine Picardie said...

Yes, definitely, the same dark intensity in the eyes.
As for the mispelling -- well, at least they got it right in the print edition of the Sunday Telegraph.
And the film's inaccuracies simply add to the Chanel myth, which she would have approved of, so probably true to the spirit of Mademoiselle.

Lazywell said...

Kairu, I'd be really interested to hear what on earth you make of Zuleika Dobson. I think it's terrific; but not only did I go to Oxford, I should probably have been born in the Edwardian era. Do please post your reaction here - sorry to hijack your blog, Justine. And picking up the current theme of actresses playing iconic figures, I wonder who (past or present) you would see playing Zuleika, with her extraordinary combination of beauty, control, detachment and ditziness. Curiously there's never been a film as far as I'm aware. Despite its many absurdities I've always thought the book would transfer rather splendidly to the screen.

enid said...

I loved Zuleika and I am a South African who has only visited Oxford once !!!!! I agree it would make a superb photo.

enid said...

I mean a superb film, sorry

kairu said...

Lazywell, I am enjoying Zuleika Dobson very much. Even though I am not English, nor did I study at Oxford, I have had a lifelong love for English literature that started with The Secret Garden more than twenty years ago and that contains an intellectual sensibility that runs the gamut from John Donne to Bridget Jones.

What about Lily Cole? She is a model, but she has recently taken up acting, I believe. I saw a photograph of her recently that made me think she might be a suitable modern incarnation of Zuleika Dobson.

Karen, Surrey said...

Hi I have just finished Daphne, which I bought in March but decided it needed my full attention pool-side. I have loved it especially the slightly sinster Symington and his demise. I shall now try Jane Eyre as I love Rebecca. It's amazing how one book can open up a web to all sorts of others. I normally visit Fowey at Easter but am going this year in October and intended to try and visit the bookshop their and follow one of the Daphne "Walks" out the to headland. Thanks for a great book.

Justine Picardie said...

I think we need Oxford Reader to come up with her suggestion for Zuleika Dobson, given that she lives in the same city. Lily Cole looks good, but can she act? Not that these concerns have ever got in the way of similar casting decisions.
Karen -- thanks so much for your encouraging comment.Am trying to finish a book, and therefore at that low point of thinking that I am a rubbish writer, and what's the use, anyway? etc etc. Hope you enjoy your time in Fowey, and do go and visit Ann and David Willmore at Booksends -- they have a treasure trove on their shelves, and can also send you in the right direction to retrace the footsteps of Daphne du Maurier.

kairu said...

I for one am very excitedly looking forward to the Chanel book!

Suppose I will have to wait until The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and then Alice in Wonderland come out before I can judge Lily Cole's acting. Am wracking my brains for other English actresses, but also, waiting for Oxford Reader to come up with any ideas.

Lazywell said...

I honestly can't think of a contemporary actress that would fit the bill. I guess it would ideally be a new discovery - rather in the way that Diane Kruger was launched on the worldwide scene as Helen of Troy (not that I ever saw that).

For myself, I see Zuleika as a combination of Marilyn Monroe, Greta Garbo and the skittish Goldie Hawn. If that means Lily Cole, then she will obviously go far.

GlassCurls said...

Only just got around to reading the article and found it as fascinating as the film (which I loved). I love the way they mix the fashions from each era - it just seems to make it so true to the myth and mystery of the woman, and the legend.

Now: Actresses to play Zuleika - my main problem is I've not read it yet (think I may have to go grab it off my father's shelf this minute). Strangely Rosamund Pike springs to mind (her film acting isn't much, but she was wonderful in 'Madame de Sade', which I saw in London this May).
I've not seen Lily Cole in anything (apart from St Trinian's), so will have to suspend judgement (and I have to say that Marilyn Manson isn't my first thought when casting Lewis Carroll...). I will report back once I've read the book (perhaps you should make it into a bibliotherapy post Justine?)

Lazywell said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

nice work. thanx for the interview.

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Anonymous said...

n 1998, Tautou participated in a Star Search-like competition sponsored by Canal+ called "Jeunes Premiers" (The Young Debut) and won Best Young Actress at the 9th Béziers Festival of Young Actors.

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Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

HI Justine, thank you very much for the link of the interview with Audrey Tautou, I liked it and she is very special in my opinion. Another interesting interview I have heard is a guy who interviewed the author of Sildenafil Citrate the book I mentioned before

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