Though “Coco Before Chanel” lacks the substance needed to give justice to fashion mogul Coco Chanel’s story, it serves the audience by offering a look into her life before the fame and fashion.

The film chronicles Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel’s (Audrey Tatou) journey from her years in an orphanage and as a seamstress in a small town in Western France until she perfected her craft and created a fashion empire.

The director’s portrayal of Chanel suggests that she was an assertive young woman who put up a front to give outsiders the impression that she was a self-reliant, independent woman. Yet, in reality, Chanel was fragile and often put up a wall to avoid getting hurt.

The movie succeeds in showing Chanel’s meager beginnings as a cabaret singer performing with her sister in a cheap bar that caters to aristocrats and dignitaries pining for a sexual fix. It is at this bar she meets Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde), the socialite and millionaire who transitions from Chanel’s lover to her mentor and protector throughout the film.

After her sister runs off with a baron and her dreams of singing professionally die, she carts her belongings to Balsan’s estate outside of Paris and leads him to believe that she plans to stay only a few days.

Once Balsan realizes she has no intention of leaving the estate, he takes her under his wing and eventually introduces her to Arthur “Boy” Capel (Alessandro Nivola), who becomes her lover. Since Capel is promised to another woman, Chanel vows never to marry.

Glimpses of the future designer are shown throughout the film. Chanel makes hats for Balsan’s fellow socialites and steals his dress shirts and ties to fashion outfits for herself that appear to be better suited for riding horses.

The recurring theme in the film is the overcoming of obstacles and going against the norm. Chanel does both by not letting her past deter her from pursuing her dreams and starting a fashion empire based on simplicity, clean lines, practicality and male-influenced clothing.

While the movie does a good job of making the audience understand the circumstances that might have influenced Chanel as an individual, the failure to focus on what precisely led to her career as a designer takes away from the overall feel of the film.

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