Team Coco

There are few love stories in modern cinema that bore me more than this whole Bella-Edward affair everyone is obsessed with right now. The concept of eternal love is a really grandiose one, something we all aspire to--but in this particular case, the characters are so very bland that it's hard to care. We're supposed to believe that the Bella-Edward love story is messy...but in reality, it's all packaged up neatly from the beginning. I'd rather see real passion--love that inspires, and love that isn't rife with Stephenie Meyer's clumsy metaphors. Jan Kounen's Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky is the exact antidote to Eclipse mania: The true story follows a fiery relationship between these cultural icons. When Stravinksy's family is left homeless by the Russian Revolution, Chanel invites the famed composer and his wife and children to take up residence at her villa...and sparks fly. The passionate affair spurs both into the most creative periods of their careers. Chanel's classic No. 5 perfume came out of this era, as did a rebirth of Stravinsky's previously criticized masterpiece Rites of Spring. No bloodless soul-suckers here, this film is about real people whose passion for each other may not have been eternal, but nonetheless left a lasting impression. The film plays at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St., at 6 and 8:15 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 4:15 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $8.50, or $6.50 for Modern members. Visit themodern.org/magnolia.html.
July 16-18, 2010