Relationships can be enormously empowering and selfish at the same time. We see this dichotomy in Jan Kounen’s film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky. With deftness, Kounen is able to show the pain and ecstasy of love and lust without resorting to cliché. Even more impressive is his ability to resist the urge to cast his protagonists as either heroes or villains; rather, he creates complex, three-dimensional characters that challenge the audience to ponder the complexities of relationships.
We see these complexities in Coco’s (Anna Mouglalis) seduction of Igor (Mads Mikkelsen). Kounen ensures that Coco is not a stereotypical home wrecker. Coco’s lust for Igor arises from pain and need. Reeling from the death of her husband, Coco needs companionship; however, the suave, chic Coco also needs to feel like an artiste. Igor fulfills all of these demands. We see how these deep desires drive Coco to invite Igor and his family to her house, supposedly so he can compose in peace. Once there, Coco promptly seduces Igor while his family is under the same roof.
Kounen is careful not to portray Igor as a hapless victim or a lascivious dog. Rather, he is merely trying to live up to the myth of the artist. Indeed, he views Coco as his muse, and he believes she will inspire him to write great music. This focus on music overrides any concern he may have for his wife or his children. He is not the only one buying into the myth. Coco uses Igor as her muse, inspiring her to create a new perfume. During one tumultuous argument, Igor’s greatest insult is that Coco is not an artist and cannot understand the thought process of an artist. This insult cuts deep. Even Igor’s wife Katarina (Elena Morozova) buys into this myth. When she first confronts Coco, Katarina is more concerned about the effect that the affair will have on Igor’s music than her family.
This raises the question of why artists are afforded so much latitude. Indeed, Coco and Igor behave atrociously. We see Coco treat the workers at her shop like servants, and her brazen behavior toward Igor practically flaunts the affair in the face of Katarina. Igor is so consumed with his music and the affair that he doesn’t care about the trauma he is inflicting on his children or the pain that he is causing his wife. Despite this, the two were revered in their day, and they still are. In the end, artistic mastery seems to trump poor behavior. In this case, despite their behavior, Coco becomes the toast of the fashion world, and Igor is hailed as a musical genius.
The two seem to be made for each other; however, real relationships are not fairy tales. Their relationship soon becomes a battle of egos. In the end, they both lose. We see the cost of their arrogance when we visit them in their old age. Despite her enormous wealth and fame, Coco still thinks about Igor. He was her soul mate, and she let him get away. All the money and fame in the world cannot soothe her regret. On the other hand, Igor as an old man plays his piano alone. He has achieved everything he desires musically, but now, he has no one to share it with. He is a sad old man. The life of an artist can be lonely indeed. As an in-depth study of both relationships and the myth of the artist, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky is a film worth watching.
