Well you all know that i love chanel. Some of you might have guessed that i like France and Paris. I've tried to be subtle, but you're all quite clever cookies, so i wouldn't be surprised if you had worked it out. And for those who have been reading back all the way to the Amelie screencap post then you would also know that i love love love amelie, starring Audrey Tautou directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
Therefore the law of averages states that i should also love the new Chanel No.5 Advert starring Audrey Tautou, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, set in Paris as a young, effervescent woman jumps on the orient express and ends up in Turkey.
However, odd as it is, and trust me, i am flummoxed, i really do not like this commercial. I don't think it's the fault of anything in particular, it's like all the elements don't mesh well together for me to form something that would really sell Chanel No.5 to me, not that i need to be sold on a perfume i have dreamt about ever since my glamorous aunt used to flit into my room to kiss me goodnight, leaving chanel no.5 lingering on the sheets... but that's another story.
I mean, i'm all for the long, langurous, whimsical train rides. I'm sure i've blogged about my desire to get the orient express before, and if i haven't, then i definitely have one in the works on the editorial in Vogue UK December 05 with Rie Radsmussen where she travelled from Moscow to Shanghai, in glamorous 1930s styling and clandestine photos (they were not granted a photographic permit for some locations). I'm all for the slightly off kilter style of Jeunet with the quick cutting, steady shots and plethora of ambient actuality sounds thrown in for good measure. I love love LOVE Audrey Tautou, to play Coco Chanel in a biopic that will definitely be a must see for me this year, and her quirky imperfect beauty is, well, perfect for a Chanel heroine...
So what went wrong?
I really can't even put my finger on it. It's partly to do with the slightly stalkerish element of the commercial, which, if you haven't seen it, you can witness below. It was all a little bit too unbelievable for me, and quite frankly, uncomfortable to watch. I didn't get passion or love, i got obsession and scary behaviour, which isn't a good thing for your perfume to be associated with, really.
It's also partly to do with how the execution of this wonderful idea didn't quite match up to the idea of Chanel no.5 for me. I think there were some beautiful elements. The shots of Audrey in bed, twisting and turning the bedsheets, and that one of her slamming down the window and staring into the night were quietly, regally, perfectly stunning, visually and figuratively. But then there were shots that didn't quite fit in to the rest of the story, or seemed a little out of touch with the aesthetic, and could have been cut.
Also there was very little of the glamour and glitz that should be associated with chanel. I get that they were going for laid-back French whimsical chic, but that can still be achieved with the atypical french glamour, think a tweed boucle jacket over denim cut-offs, or a striped tee-shirt with a ballerina length chanel sheer skirt. I think there should definitely have been a 2.55 and a string of pearls in there too. Because these things are not only synonymous with Chanel now, but also with French style, and thus deserve a place in this French character's wardrobe. It would have looked much better than some of her outfits, in my opinion, like the black jumpsuit at the end. *shudder* i really do hate jumpsuits.
It doesn't lessen my love for any of the members involved, except maybe the wooden, creepy male actor supposedly playing her 'lover' *cough* stalker. I'm just flummoxed as to why i don't love this as much as i thought i would when i heard about it, and why it doesn't move me to jitters and heart-rushing excitement like some of the other chanel films (joe wright's keira knightly period masterpiece or even baz lurhmann's theatrical spectacular with nicole kidman).
Chanel has a history of getting a director to direct his muse in an ad for their perfume brands, see the aforementioned examples. And the results are, present example excepted, breathtaking, as only someone completely enamored and inspired by their subject could capture them in such a moving way. While i think this film is nice, i am upset that i can't be moved to greater superlatives by it, because it is a mark that it doesn't do anything special for me, unlike so many of Chanel's other adverts.
Ah well, as my mum would say, you can't win 'em all.
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