Welcome to winter – the best time of year to go the cinema. There’s nothing like escaping your cold/damp flat and the drizzly streets and transporting yourself to a sunnier climate, or a more beautiful existence.

Coco avant Chanel is a film that suits this purpose brilliantly. As soon as the film begins you’re transported to provincial France in the 1890s. You can almost smell the croissants and lingering cigarette smoke.

As per the title (which translates to "Coco before Chanel") the film follow the life of Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel and shows how she came to establish her iconic fashion empire.

The film takes us right back to the moment a teeny tiny Gabrielle is dropped at an orphanage with her older sister. We then watch as the years roll by and the young girls struggle to break out of their lowly existence, with good looks and cunning as their only tools.

We stay with Coco as she moves closer to Paris, her dream city, and shacks up with an uncouth heir (played with the perfect combination of sleeze and heart by Benoît Poelvoorde). We watch as her style develops, her attitude hardens and she meets the man who was to be the love of her life, Arthur ‘Boy’ Capel (played by the exceptionally dashing Alessandro Nivola).

At this point, Coco faces a personal conflict. Part of her wishes to devote herself to her new lover entirely, yet she also has a staunch desire to remain an independent woman. And it's this struggle that gives the film its guts.

Audrey Tautou truly shines as Chanel. She manages to be tough and boy-like, while still retaining the elegance that was the essence of Coco Chanel. Tautou can say so much with a simple tight-lipped smile or a subtle grimace. She really is remarkable in this role.

While the film occasionally lacks pace, the one constant that makes up for it is its beauty. Costume designer Catherine Leterrier and the director of photography make the most of the fashion, Tautou’s beauty and the glorious French backdrop in every frame.

Having said that, fashion lovers may not get the couture injection they desire. For the majority of the film, the costuming lacks the colour and glitz that you might expect from a film about fashion. But what you get instead (and what is ultimately more satisfying) is an education in the way her style developed, and an understanding of what motivated her to create the simple, sleek wardrobe that put women on a more even footing with men. From the simple boater hats, to the iconic blue and white-striped fisherman tops, Chanel’s revolutionary “less is more” approach to fashion is beautifully and faithfully depicted.

This is a beautiful little piece of French escapism that combines a real-life rags to riches tale, an impossible love story and a fashion revolution.

It gets two chic thumbs up.

Coco Avant Chanel opens in Australian cinemas tomorrow (Thursday, June 25).
You can view the Coco Avant Chanel movie trailer here on TheVine.