Coco Chanel

It has been said before that I am an emotional person, and I defend being this way as somebody once told me, you only really experience life if you feel the highs and lows. However I'm not the sort of person who cries for no reason. As the years have passed, I've found myself crying more easily on hearing a certain piece of music, or watching a sad film. There may be many reasons for this other than the sad nature of what I'm watching or listening to, or there may not, I don't know. More and more recently I'm becoming suprised by what makes me cry and I had a strange experience recently.

One of my favourite films is Amelie. I love the way this film looks on screen, I love the colours, the stylised nature of the cinematography,and the fact it is set in Paris. But even more so, I love the music, it has a profound emotional effect on me, and over the years I've learnt to play some of my favourite pieces on the piano. The same composer does the music for a German film, Goodbye Lenin, another film that makes me cry!

Recently I pursuaded Andy to come with me to watch Coco Avant Chanel, (Coco Before Chanel.) As soon as I saw this film advertised I knew I had to see it. I've always loved Chanel's work, style and overall look, and I knew this interpretation of her life would be interesting, particulary because Audrey Tautou who plays Amelie plays Chanel. We watched it at a fantastic little cinema in Birmingham called The Electric. If you get the chance you really should go, you can have a glass of wine or cup of coffee while you watch the film, or slice of homemade cake on a real plate! It's a fantastic little cinema, and the screen quality was outstanding. http://www.theelectric.co.uk/

Well, I worried throughout the film that Andy wouldn't enjoy it as he doesn't speak French, but he absolutely loved it which made me happy, he never fails to amaze me. But I had a strange emotional experience towards the end. Although the film is sad in parts, i filled up during the end scene which wasn't sad at all. In the final scene, Chanel watches during her catwalk show as a series of models walk down the stairs wearing classic Chanel pieces from throughout her career. As I said, this wasn't in any way sad, but I got completely choked up, and in fact I couldn't hold back the tears, and as we left the building I started crying! I think it was the sheer captivating brilliance of Audrey Tautou in that role, and the brilliance of Chanel herself, all rolled into the final moments. Funny thing was, a few days later my mum and sister asked me about what happens in the film, and when I got to explaining the end, I got completely choked again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReJhw89tXdg Check out the trailer on youtube for a glimpse of the final scene.