Anna Mouglalis is the next French actress to have played Coco Chanel in the latest biopic Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. The film focuses on a more melancholic part of the designers life including her tragic love affair with composer Igor Stravinsky. Mouglalis, however, has controversially described the legendary couturier as a misogynist.
“She is recognised as a huge feminist, but most of the things she did, she did for herself and not for women in general,” said Mouglalis. “I would even push it further, thinking she was more of a misogynist than a feminist, since she only had male friends.”
Mouglalis has had first-hand experience of the goings-on at Chanel, having previously modelled for the label. The actress offered high praise for the brand.
“Chanel is one of the only fashion houses that doesn’t exploit women,” she said to WWD. Mouglalis added that for Coco, “eroticism was the little piece of skin between the glove and the sleeve.”
Karl Lagerfeld is yet to be impressed by the new film commenting that the role “has no relation to Mouglalis’ talent for other roles.” Mouglalis remains unphased.
“It’s a lot for someone who [Lagerfeld remembers] as full of humour to be shown as cold and dark,” Mouglalis remarked.
Trends come and go in the world of perfumes, but the classic Chanel No. 5 is one of the few exceptions to the rule. For nearly a century, it has been synonymous with elegance and sophistication-making it an easy choice as a Luxist nominee in the best fragrance category.
Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel started her company in 1909 with a single Paris store. By 1913, she had expanded to the posh European resort towns of Deauville and Biarritz, France. As the winter of 1921 approached, she gave the first 100 bottles of the fragrance to her most loyal customers as a Christmas gift. The following year, Chanel No. 5 made its official debut.
The precise origins of Chanel No. 5 are the stuff of legend. At first, Coco wanted no part of the fragrance business. “Women perfume themselves only to hide bad smells,” she famously said. But eventually French perfumer Ernst Beaux changed Coco’s mind. According to one story, the formulation of No. 5 was Beaux’s attempt to capture the smell of Europe’s northern lakes in the midnight sun; according to another, it was the result of a mixing error by Beaux’s assistant.
Whatever the origin, No. 5 remains popular as ever today, thanks in part to a vaunted advertising campaign. Spokespeople for the fragrance have included actresses Marilyn Monroe, Catherine Deneuve, Nicole Kidman, and most recently, Audrey Tautou, star of Amelie. She’s the muse for a Chanel No. 5 film directed by Jean Pierre Jeunet. The current campaign is Chanel’s first to launch online.
Chanel No. 5 perfume is described as sensual, intimate, luxurious, and the new film portrays No. 5 women of today as serene, enchanting and free—all part of an effort to renew the brand in the eyes of younger consumers. The fragrance can be purchased through Chanel’s website (1.2 oz: $61.50) or at most high end department stores.Vote for the fragrance that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through May 31st and winners will be announced on June 1.
After playing Coco Chanel in Anne Fontaine’s biopic, Audrey Tautou will star in Claude Miller’s next film, “Therese B.,” an adaptation of Francois Mauriac’s novel.
The 1920-set drama follows Therese Desqueyroux, a free-spirited but unhappily married woman who struggles to free herself from social pressures and the boredom of suburban life.
TF1 Intl. has picked up international sales and will launch pre-sales at Cannes’ film market.
The $12.7 million costumer is produced by Yves Marmion’s outfit UGC-YM. Lensing will start in 2011. UGC will handle the French theatrical release.
Tautou’s previous film, “Coco Before Chanel,” was last year’s top French-language export, taking more than $36.5 million at the international B.O. outside the U.S.
TF1 Intl. has also taken foreign sales rights to Sarah Polley’s second feature, “Take This Waltz,” a dramedy starring Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen. Lensing is set to kick off in July in Toronto. Pic is co-produced by Polley and Susan Cavan’s Accent Entertainment, in association with Telefilm Canada. Mongrel Media will handle the Canadian distribution.
Polley’s feature helming debut, “Away From Her,” earned two Oscar noms.
At Cannes, the French sales company will also hold market preems for Kristin Scott Thomas starrer “Love Crime,” a sexy thriller set in the corporate world; Wall Street-set “Trader Games,” starring French thesp Gilles Lellouche; Yann Gozlan’s “Caged”; and Jacques Malaterre’s “Ao, the Last Neanderthal.”
French actors are migrating from the cinema as Parisian theatres recover from crisis-deflated 2009
article from independent.co.uk:
She may never have played for Manchester United but she does now have something in common with Eric Cantona.
Audrey Tautou, the most successful and highest paid of a new generation of French cinema actresses, followed Le Grand Eric last week by becoming the latest of a series of high-profile transfers from the French screen to the stage.
Tautou, 33, who was projected to world stardom by her roles in Amélie (2000) and The Da Vinci Code (2006), has made her theatrical debut in Paris in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. Read more… »
Alexa Chung has been named the most stylish woman of 2009.
The British television presenter, who moved to New York this year to work for MTV, topped Vogue magazine’s Best Dressed of 2009, with French actress Audrey Tautou coming in second.
Alexa is a well-known lover of British fashion labels, often wearing Burberry and Mulberry and previously modelling for Vivienne Westwood.
Commenting on their decision to crown Alexa best dressed, Vogue said: “She won over the US style pundits with her quirky style and kept us on side by staying true to the formula that won her our approval in the first place.”
Sex and the City actress Sarah Jessica Parker came third in the list, followed by X Factor judges Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue in fourth and fifth place.
Kate Moss came in the list at 10th, just ahead of Lady Gaga in 11th. Other notable inclusions include Michelle Obama, Anna Friel and Beth Ditto.
Vogue’s Best Dressed of 2009:
1. Alexa Chung
2. Audrey Tautou
3. Sarah Jessica Parker
4. Cheryl Cole
5. Dannii Minogue
6. Emma Watson
7. Sienna Miller
8. Diane Kruger
9. Freida Pinto
10. Kate Moss
11. Lady Gaga
12. Lily Donaldson
13. Leighton Meester
14. Michelle Obama
15. Angelina Jolie
16. Georgia May Jagger
17. Anna Friel
18. Olivia Palermo
19. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy
20. Beth Ditto
Get your hands on this fashion-fabulous film starring Audrey Tautou
To celebrate the release of the most stylish film of the year, Coco Before Chanel, out on DVD and blu ray on November 23, we’ve joined forces with Optimum Home Entertainment to give 10 lucky winners the chance to win a copy of the DVD or blu ray!
Coco Before Chanel stars Audrey Tautou and tells the story of Gabrielle Chanel, who started her life as a headstrong orphan and following an extraordinary journey became the legendary couturier who embodied the modern woman. Read more… »
French actress Audrey Tautou says she has no plans to settle down in Hollywood because she wants to act in good films than just be famous.
Tautou gained international recognition with the multi-ward winning and Oscar nominated Amelie, where she played the title character and The Da Vinci Code, where she played Sophie Neveu opposite Tom Hanks.
However, Tautou still feels Paris is the best place for her.
The Daily Express quoted her as telling the New York Daily News, “I like to visit Hollywood, but I wouldn’t like to settle there…
“I don’t think about my work in terms of a ‘career’. I have the ambition to try to do very good movies and try to work with great directors and I try to do my best. My intention is much more for doing something worthwhile than about the glory. I feel myself as being more of an artisan than as an actress.”
source: story.zimbabwestar.com
