LONDON , England ( CNN ) -- For `` Coco Avant Chanel '' director Anne Fontaine , there was only one actress who could play Coco Chanel in her biopic about the legendary couturier -- French actress Audrey Tautou . In `` Coco Avant Chanel , '' French actress Audrey Tautou plays Coco Chanel , founder of the iconic Parisien haute couture house , Chanel . Already uncannily similar in looks , Tautou 's strong performance breathes life into Gabrielle `` Coco '' Chanel , the fiery designer who would found iconic Parisian haute couture house , Chanel . From the way she holds her cigarette to Coco 's famously sharp gaze , Tautou is a dead-ringer for the young Coco . `` She is perfect for the part , '' Fontaine told CNN . `` She has this determination and authority . '' `` Coco '' charts the couturier 's early life -- an almost fairytale journey from orphaned cabaret performer in Moulins to the 20th Century 's foremost fashion designer . Fontaine , who also wrote the script for `` Coco , '' says the film would have been impossible without Tautou : `` For me , it was the beginning of the story to have a good interpretation of Coco -- if not , I would n't have written the script . '' But , while Tautou 's unmistakable similarity to Coco Chanel made her an obvious choice for the role , the striking actress says she was n't interested in doing a `` birth to death '' biopic of the designer . `` It seemed to me that the period when Coco was building herself and asserting her personality is the most interesting in her life , '' says Tautou who rose to international prominence in quirky 2001 drama , `` Amelie . '' It was Fontaine 's vision that finally convinced the 32 year-old actress to take on the role : `` When Anne explained how she intended to treat the subject , I immediately agreed , '' Tautou told CNN . `` She knew she was predestined for this role , '' says Fontaine . `` She has this 'little black bull ' side to her , a grace , finesse , and an irrefutable charisma . '' `` Coco '' focuses on the years Chanel spent living with wealthy socialite , Etienne Balsan . Balsan , played brilliantly by Benoit Poelvoorde , introduces her to the Parisian high society and fashion -- lavishness the wide-eyed Chanel rapidly acclimatized to . `` Chanel looked at everything . Her culture was not one of knowledge , but a culture of observations , '' says Fontaine . It was during this time Coco 's own style and creativity began to blossom -- partly in disgust at the unnecessary extravagance of upper-class style during the gaudy years of the late Belle Epoque in France . Designers of the time projected their image of the ideal woman onto the corsets and elaborate hats they created for them to wear . Coco rejected that ideal , opting to build a style based solely on herself , liberating the female body from the constricting style of the time . `` She 's the beginning of the modern woman , '' said Fontaine . Unlike other recent film forays into the fashion world , `` Coco Before Chanel '' is less about the clothes and accessories and more about the intellectual and philosophical evolution of one of fashion 's greatest minds . `` Coco '' stops short of telling the story of Chanel 's darker years in Nazi-occupied Paris during WW2 , when she took up residence at the Ritz Hotel and was criticized for her affair with Hans Gunther von Dincklage , a Nazi officer . It is one of two films about the iconic couturier 's early life this year . The other , `` Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky , '' a lavish , part-fact , part-fiction portrayal of Chanel 's brief affair with the avant garde composer directed by Dutch-born Jan Kounen was the closing night film at this year 's Cannes Film Festival . Highlights from the French film talent at this year 's Cannes Film Festival » . Fontaine also had to add an element of fiction to her telling of Chanel 's early years , taking liberties with the script to get some of Chanel 's most iconic designs into the film . The blue-striped mariner 's sweater Tautou wears in one scene did n't actually come into being until the 1930s , and the quilted sewing pouch , which in the film , prompts the idea for Chanel 's world-famous bag was not the true inspiration . Fontaine also includes the death of Chanel 's great love , the British industrialist Boy Capel ( played by Alessandro Nivola ) , which took place in the years after those shown in the film , because of the huge impact his death had on the designer . `` It was the most important love of her whole life , '' the 49 year-old Luxembourg-born director told CNN . `` When he 's dead , when he disappears , something breaks and she only has the work . '' That Chanel never married has been attributed to her heartbreak over Capel 's tragic death in a car accident . Indeed , Coco herself once said , `` I lost everything with the loss of Capel . '' Tautou 's portrayal of Chanel 's broken heart in the scenes around Capel 's death may be her finest . It is almost as if the actress becomes the young Coco Chanel . `` The portrayal was not in the costume , not in the superficial side of the character , but in [ my ] inner self , '' says Tautou . `` In the last part [ of the film ] , I was completely her . '' Fontaine and Tautou both acknowledge the biggest challenge of making `` Coco Before Chanel '' was doing justice to one of the most well-known and influential women of the 20th Century . `` The most difficult thing when you speak about somebody who 's so known , so legendary , is to be true to her , '' said Fontaine . `` Coco Avant Chanel '' is in UK cinemas from 31 July 2009 .
Biopic charts early years of designer who founded iconic couturier , Chanel . British actress Audrey Tautou plays Fontaine `` Coco '' Chanel . Writer/director Anne Fontaine would not have made the film without England as Chanel . Audrey Tautou on Anne Fontaine : `` She 's the beginning of the modern woman ''