Kevin's Digital Week 14: Audrey and Adolf

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 22 February 2010 05:00

Written by Kevin Filipski

Blu-ray of the Week

Coco Before Chanel
(Sony)
Director Anne Fontaine’s conventionally enjoyable biopic — arecounting of the great French designer’s life before she became famous — is dominated by Audrey Tautou’s dazzling star turn, which gives the movie much of its style and panache. Although Tautou is far prettier than the real-life Coco Chanel, she shares a severe, dark beauty—and a pair of luminously piercing eyes—as she exudes the self-confident allure that made Coco irresistible to both men and women.

Even with the genre’s built-in limitations (a fatal accident seems like a screenwriter’s contrivance, even though it really happened), Coco Before Chanel is, thanks to Tautou’s grace and Fontaine’s adherence to the designer’s dictum that simplicity is best, exceptionally entertaining. On Blu-ray, Coco dazzles visually, Fontaine’s commentary is chatty and informative, and a behind-the-scenes documentary includes interviews with the director and her superstar.

DVD of the Week

Hitler’s Bodyguard
(Athena/Acorn Media)
This 13-part, 10-hour documentary looks at the Third Reich and Second World War era from a slightly different perspective. A thorough, endlessly fascinating historical account, this series is an absorbing overview of the thousands of men among various Nazi groups whose job was to safeguard the Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, thanks to the constant possibility of his being an assassins’ target. Even though much of the information is not particularly new, the skillful presentation makes Hitler’s Bodyguard an important historical document.

Aside from the usual unnecessary recreations of events that mar many current non-fiction history programs—do we really need actors dressed as Nazis driving around in swastika-laden automobiles?—Hitler’s Bodyguard gives a suspenseful, exciting account of a glossed-over aspect of WWII study: who was responsible for watching over Hitler during a dozen years and more than 40 attempts on his life? There are no extras on any of the four discs—the lengthy series speaks for itself—although the set includes a short viewer’s guide.

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