Coco avant Chanel [2009]

The 2009 French movie, starring Audrey Tatou and directed by Anne Fontaine, follows the story of the famous designer before Chanel; it documents her stay at the Balsan mansion and her affair with the two men that played an important part in her life, each loving her as best they could.

One was the owner of the fabulous mansion in which she lived for a while, doing nothing more than entertain his guests; not a mistress, but not quite a wife, either. The other, the one who eventually captured her heart, was Boy, an English businessman she met during her stay with Balsan. Etienne offered her a place to stay, companionship and kindness, whilst Boy was the love she never believed could exist. It was a rather bittersweet story and certainly not a happy or inspiring one, but it had its wonderful moments and it portrayed Coco Chanel in a different way, by focusing on her earlier life and her journey to the woman we all know now.

From a filmmakers point of view, the film was visually beautiful and nicely directed, although I would have liked more color and a more artistic approach to the cinematography. I liked how they showed that Coco was always paying attention to details and shapes and accessories, and it was interesting to find out that she first started in the business by making hats. The costumes were fantastic and I instantly fell in love with her black dress from her first trip with Boy to the casino; her runway show at the end was also stunning and I love the style and the transformation from the poor girl in the orphanage to the successful Parisian designer. In a world of corsets, pastels and overly accessorized attires, she stood out with dark colors, masculine style and stripes. She knew exactly what she wanted and she was lucky enough to have both Balsan and Boy close to her to help her achieve it.

Casting-wise, I thought all 3 were perfectly chosen for their respective parts. Tatou's performance in this movie was beautiful. I like to think of her as a modern Audrey Hepburn, but French and only slightly less charismatic. She knowingly surrenders herself to the somber, strict and straight forward character of Gabrielle and shows a wide range of layers and subtleties to a rather enigmatic person. Although she was thought to be an introspective, elegant and cold woman, she did have her moments of happiness and childish behavior, but only Boy and sometimes, her sister, were the ones fortunate enough to witness it. Benoit Poelvoorde, as Etienne, the older, but always entertaining man, went from portraying an interested boy, to a naughty lover, to a jealous man in just a couple of months spent with Coco, and gave a wonderful performance. Alessandro Nivola played Boy with a natural charm and sensuality that would conquer almost every woman...I admit it, I fell for his act, and I do find it believable that Gabrielle did, too.

All in all, Coco avant Chanel was an interesting movie and an enjoyable way of spending an evening. If you are interested in fashion or if you love Audrey Tatou, I recommend it.

...and the Golden Globe goes to:

As I did in the last few years, I stayed up and watched the Golden Globes. Although I said I wouldn't tweet about it, I broke my rule for about 6-10 times, but below is my...how to say it?.."full coverage"? "semi-live blogging"?

My comments and notes from this year's Golden Globes:


Red carpet
- Charlize Theron is absolutely stunning and her dress is beautiful!
- Was it just me or did Angelina look nervous whilst being interviewed by Seacrest? She looked stunning, she always does!
- Too many interviews with Glee stars and D-listers! Bring on Clooney and DiCaprio
- Jenna Dewan is wearing a Romanian designer dress- I'm proud :)

Best dressed list: Julie Bowen, Angelina Jolie, Charlize Theron, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Jessica Alba, Tilda Swinton, Emily Blunt, Reese Witherspoon

Award show

Supporting Actor Motion Picture: Christopher Plummer- well deserved and I love him; he is a fantastic person, an elegant, adequate, stylish man and his speech was very sweet, mentioning Ewan McGregor


Actress-TV series Comedy: Laura Dern
Miniseries/TV movie: awkward intro of Julianne Moore(stunning, and she is 51!!)&Rob Lowe for Miss Globe, then winner Downtown Abbey
Actress Miniseries/TV movie: Kate Winslet- great speech, but too long

Totally useless speech by HFPA president- but then again Jeremy Irons was there, and he is always charming


Actor- TV series drama: Kelsey Grammar- uhm, wtf?
TV Series Drama: Homeland- nice surprise, Game of Thrones would have been nice, too!


Best Score: The Artist. Surprising, NO trent reznor?, also"I'm sorry, I'm french" genius quote
Best Song: Masterpiece-Madonna- of course she won, she had to be there; "Uhm, uhm, I'm not French, I have no excuse"- you got that right. Long speech!

Another useless speech  by a turkish actress

Actor miniseries/tv movie: Idris Elba- Rock'n Rolla badass, good for him!
Brad Pitt introducing Ides of March - of course the camera were on Clooney  and Jolie, who was looking beautifully to him, as he was the only man in the world- perfect performance or true love?


Actress Comedy: Michelle Williams- obvious choice; I loved her speech, she has very sweet and charming, sincere and short.

*Fashion note: what is Sarah Michelle Gellar wearing? oh my god- horrible
Supporting Actor tv series: Peter Dinklage- obvious choice, I love him and the show
Clooney introduction of Pitt movie, just like Pitt introduced Clooney movie- smart move, charming men


Animated Feature Film: Tintin- Spielberg had to win, right?

Clive Owen *swoon*
Screenplay: Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen

Felicity Huffman&William H.Macy introducing through one cute song- nicest couple ever
Supporting Actress tv series: Jessica Lange
Madonna comes back with a mean comment to Gervais- funny?!?!!?
Foreign language film: A separation- considering the love for certain Hollywood celebrities, I was sure Jolie's film will get it, but I guess I was wrong
Actress Tv drama: Claire Danes- Homeland
Actor TV comedy: Matt LeBlanc


Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer- hello fruntrunner, goodbye Jessica Chastain- sweet woman, too many names

Reese Witherspoon is hot- she is, what? 40? kudos to her

Cecil B.Demile: Introduced by Sidney Potier and Helen Mirren, the award went to the fantastic Morgan Freeman- he deserves it and I am glad to see him in so many great movies (Seven, Shawshank Redemption etc, but Casket video was one of funniest thing I have ever seen). His speech was surprisingly short and sweet and funny!

When Angelina Jolie comes in, you can see Brad Pitt is one proud man, and he should be, AJ is flawless!
Director: Martin Scorsese- Hugo- hmm, interesting! Oh, and Leonardo DiCaprio just smiled- for the first and probably last time tonight- he's too cool for school, but nothing beats his BFF Marty
Comedy TV series: Modern Family

Actor Comedy: Jean Dujardin- The Artist- he is even trying to joke, gotta admire his french charming style

Actress Drama: Meryl Streep- Iron Lady- a little surprising, but I loved her impromptu speech, naming all of the great performers.

Comedy: The Artist

Oh come one, so many Smash and The Voice commercials, they are made up to be the God of television

Actor Drama- George Clooney- not surprised, but i'm not happy! Got to give him credit for Fassy and Pitt appreciation!

Picture Drama: The Descendants- no surprise for me here, but I doubt it will win the Oscar, just a hunch! Remember Social Network win last year?

Overall, I thought the pace was great, I wasn't bored, but I was dissapointed by Gervais, he was softer than last year! Who is willing to bet that Crystal is going to outperform him?

Congratulations to everyone! Bring on the Oscars!

P.S. Read my Shame review, I spent a lot of time on it and the movie is really good! This is the 4 am tired and hungry?!? Diana doing shameless promotion for her blog!

P.S.2. In a naughty, shameless game of Fuck, Marry, Kill, as I said on twitter, I would Fuck Fassbender, Marry Pitt and Kill Clooney! What about you?

Thank you and good night!

Bill Cunningham New York [2010] documentary

The first few shots of the Bill Cunningham documentary tend to push you away, to make you think "why is this creepy old guy stalking girls on the streets of New York?".

This creepy old guy, this sweet, energetic, full of passion guy is Bill Cunningham, a world known photographer who has 2 columns in the New York Times newspaper. His speciality? Street Style- what he basically does is go out every day (or night, in some cases) and shoot random people he finds interesting or fascinating. It can either be because of the shoes, or the funky clothes, or just because the shot might be good (he loves taking photos during a storm or bad weather).  Yes, he is quircky, but his passion is admirable; he is happy with a camera in hand.

The documentary doesn't show too much of his private life, with the exception of his apartment and some close friends- maybe because his story is not interesting, maybe because he doesn't want to share. Bill Cunningham lives in a very small apartment in Carnegie Hall (a building who is currently occupied by offices); he has one bed, a few clothes on hangers spread all around, a lot of fashion books and cabinets, cabinets full of negatives- oh, and the bathroom is on the hall.

At the age of 80, he has something that most people in fashion desire from the first moment they start- respect, admiration and a lot of event invitations. Icons like Anna Wintour talk about him in very high terms: "I said many times that we all get dressed for Bill", and former business partners (like Details founding editor and art director) admire his devotion and passion for passion.

Bill Cunninhgam innovated, he took risks and, not even knowing, he observed and, more importantly, created trends- in fashion and in photography. His street style column forged the way for the thousands of fashion bloggers all around the world today. He is always guided by amazing work ethics and never gives in- for example, he doesn't drink or eat at the events he is invited to.

Along the way, we get to witness some beautiful, but also funny scenes: Editta, his longtime neighbour, trying on hats and talking about her work, the story of the blue jacket he always wears, the constant bantering between Bill and the current Art editor of New York Times, and so on.

He is a sweet man, but you can't help feeling sorry for him, especially at the end, when he responds to a question about his private life by saying that he hasn't had romantic relationships in his life, he just always had clothes on his mind- you expect it, but it is sad; don't people need love to survive? The last question from the reporter was, surprisingly, the one that proved to be the most difficult one to answer: are you faithful? do you believe in God? to which he gives a truly genuine, honest, moving reaction- it got to me. I won't say, that's the beauty of watching the movie for yourself.

Which you should: watch Bill Cunningham New York, especially if you are interested in the fashion industry, or just like interesting characters, cause he sure is one! A good documentary overall!

L'Amour Fou[2011] documentary

L'Amour Fou is a 2010 documentary about the life and work of famous fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. Depicted with the help of Pierre Berge, his love partner, we learn more about the man, this character and his love for fashion and art.

The film, made by Pierre Thoretton, takes us from the beginning of his career at Christian Dior to his retirement in 2002 (his speech during the announcement is actually the first scene of the documentary and a beautiful one, that sheds light on his beliefs and passion on fashion), lingering much more on his private life then on his business.

In short episodes, the documentary mentions some of YSL most memorable moments of his career: his first collections at Christian Dior, where each one had more then 150 dresses, the Mondrian-inspired dress, the Opera and Russian Collections in the 1970s, his invention of pret-a-porter (ready-to-wear or street clothes), and random images and clips of his fashion shows, all sporting the elegant, classic sign YSL at the beginning of the runway.

One of the major topics discussed is his art collection. Yves Saint Laurent was a true lover and admirer of art, in any form, and together with Pierre Berge, he collected fantastic pieces: paintings from Andy Wharhol, Goya, Mondrian, sculptures by Constantin Brancusi and much more. Each with a beautiful memory attached to it, his partner tells the story of some of the most important ones, everytime shedding more light to the sensible, timid, poetic Yves. After the designer's death, Pierre decides to give their incredible collection to auction and the end captures the grand event that took place in Paris, at the Grand Palais, organized by Christie's. Just to give an example of the earnings and of the valueable items sold, the Brancusi sculpture was sold for 26 milion euros.

But the main aspect that this film ilustrates is the love between Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge. They met in 1958, a couple months after Christian Dior's death (a mutual friend) and they remained together for the rest of their lives (with a brief separation in the 1980s due to the designer's addiction of alchool and drugs). Whilst Yves was the artistic man, the poetic, sensible man in the relationship, Pierre was always his rock, being the pragmatic individual that he needed to survive and make his business florish. They worked together perfectly, complementing each other in business and in love.

From the film-making aspect, it is beautifully made, having photos and footage of past collections interwined with interviews with Pierre and other close friends. The soundtrack, containing mostly melancholic piano parts, has some surprising songs, but stays in tune. The editing, or montage, could have been better, but still managed to capture the true essence of the era.

L'amour Fou is a soft, lovely homage to the great designer that Yves Saint Laurent was. If you like fashion, you should give it a try!



"fashion's role was not simply to make women more beautiful, but also to reassure them, give them confidence and allow them to assert themselves." Yves Saint Laurent