Information by Baz the Great!
Information
by Baz the Great!
Baz Luhrmann's Chanel No. 5 commercial (or 'film', as Luhrmann prefers it being referred to), reunited Luhrmann and his Moulin Rouge star, Nicole Kidman, in one of the most expensive and elaborate advertisements of all time. The film was screened in several countries around the world during 2004, 2005 and 2006.
The Chanel No. 5 film has not been released in DVD format to date.
However, the
film is currently
being shown on the 'You Tube' website.
Also available to view are the five parts of the 'Making Of' documentary.
Chanel
No 5 Film
Chanel Making Of Film #1
Chanel Making Of Film #2
Chanel Making Of Film #3
Chanel Making Of Film #4
Chanel Making Of Film #5
2004
Australia
The film had its
world premiere on Australia's Channel 9
television network on 5th October 2004. It was
screened at the end of the popular television programme, A Current Affair.
This was
the first time the film had been shown to the public in its entirety.
The film was shown on Australian cinemas, as of Friday, 12th November 2004, and on Australian television, as of Sunday, 14th November 2004. "Chanel No. 5 The Film" - the half-hour "making of" documentary - premiered on Australian television at 10:30pm on Monday, 15th November 2004.
France
The film premiered on French television on Sunday, 21st November
2004 at around 8:40pm on TF1.
Netherlands
The Dutch premiere of the film took place on Tuesday, 23rd November 2004. The
"making of" was shown on a Dutch commercial television network during
the morning. In the evening, during the second last episode of Sex and
the City, the film itself premiered in full.
UK
The film
was shown in UK cinemas before the movie, Bridget
Jones: The Edge of Reason, as of Friday, 12th November 2004, and was shown on UK television,
as of Saturday, 20th November 2004. More information about the UK premieres
can be found further down this page. The film was also accompanied by an extensive UK press campaign.
USA
The film was shown in US cinemas, as of the week
beginning 1st November 2004, and on US television, as of Thursday, 11th
November 2004. Print ads ran until December 2004.
2005/2006
The film returned for the 2005 and 2006 Christmas seasons and was shown all over the world. The film was shown on prime time television, and there was also print ads and posters in stores, on bus shelters and in magazines.
If you have any further information regarding the film, wherever in the world you may be, please contact me so I can add the details to this site.
General Information
Shooting of Baz Luhrmann's Chanel No. 5 film took place on the Fox Studios backlot in Sydney, Australia, from 19th to 23rd December 2003. Despite intense security on set, many details were leaked to the press, and this information helped to further increase the general anticipation of this pioneering advertisement. Rumoured to be one of the most expensive commercials ever made, the exact figure spent appears to be unknown, with various media publications speculating anywhere from around AU$10 million in total, to over AU$10 million a minute! The costumes and set pieces are exquisite, with the Chanel No. 5 pendant Kidman wears in the final scene of the film containing an amazing 687 diamonds. The film took five days to shoot, but many months to prepare. The Chanel No. 5 film runs for exactly two minutes, with a further minute of credits, although these credits only seem to be shown with selected screenings of the film. The film has also been cut to around 30 seconds for television screenings in many countries.
The score for the Chanel No. 5 film was Debussy's Clair De Lune, performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Craig Armstrong, who also worked with Luhrmann on Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge. More about Armstrong and his works can be found on my Craig Armstrong page.
Chanel No. 5 The Film - The "Making Of"
While shooting the Chanel No. 5 film at Fox Studios, a half-hour "making of" special was also produced. This short film gives an insightful look into the creation of this stunning advertisement, and features interviews with Luhrmann, Martin, and presumably Kidman and Santoro, as well as others involved with the production.
The "making of" special premiered in Australia at 10:30pm on 15th November 2004. As far as I know, screenings of this "making of" special were extremely limited across the world (I certainly did not see it screened at all here in the UK!) For further information about the "making of" special, feel free to read the Star Online article entitled 'Making 'Chanel No. 5 the Film'.
Please note: Unfortunately, as far as I know, the Chanel No. 5 film "making of" special was not released on DVD and is not available to buy or download.
Chanel No. 5 The Film - My Review
"The Chanel commercial (or
'film') was released here in the UK on Friday, 12th November with the newly released
movie,
Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason. After waiting two frantic days to be able to make it to the cinema, I finally attended a screening
on the morning of 14th November 2004 and, I have to say, I was extremely impressed and just can't get over how beautiful this production really is. It is absolutely stunning, and I am so thrilled that
Luhrmann has created yet another gorgeous masterpiece.
As I sat in the cinema, I waited in anticipation through the usual adverts that are screened before a movie. However, I kind of knew that they would probably wait until the end of the product ads, and just before the movie previews of
upcoming films, before the Chanel film appeared. After all, in essence, it is very much like a movie preview, although not for a movie, but for a fragrance.
The Chanel No. 5 film runs for exactly two minutes. The commercial has a much longer running time than a normal advertisement, and it has therefore been widely referred to, by both Luhrmann and the media, as a as a "mini movie" or "film". I had heard through various reviews that there is actually a third minute comprising entirely of credits that was attached to media screenings of the film. I wondered if these would be shown to the public but, here in the UK at least, they are not.
The story of the Chanel No. 5 film
centres around Kidman portraying the most famous woman in the world. She is
being hounded by the media and we can see that she longs for an escape from it
all. And so, one night, while wearing a stunning pink feathered gown, she runs
into a taxi and breathes desperately, "Drive". Beside her is Santoro's
bohemian character who, as he says himself, "must have been the only person
in the world who didn't know who she was." They spend time together at his
apartment building, atop of which is a giant illuminated Chanel sign. Kidman's
character lets herself get swept up in the beauty of it all - being free and
peaceful and in love - but is then brought back to reality by the realisation
that she must return to her life in the public eye. She leaves her lover, and we
see her return in triumphant form to the red carpet wearing an elegant black
gown. As she climbs the stairs, with her hair swept back and a gorgeous diamond
studded No. 5 pendant hanging down her back, she turns and gazes up at the
Chanel sign and her lover. She stares up at him with knowing smile, as he
declares how he will never forget "her kiss, her smile, her perfume."
First and foremost, I have to say the Chanel No. 5 film very much resembles Moulin
Rouge. The props, sets, costumes, even the acting itself resemble the film, and with every
passing scene I couldn't help but make comparisons in my mind. Santoro is most definitely
another Christian, with Kidman reprising her role as Satine. The world they are in is a modernised version of the
Parisian landscape that Luhrmann created in Moulin Rouge. The Chanel sign on top of the
apartment building is very much like the L'amour sign outside Christian's room in
Moulin Rouge. And the way Kidman's character leans against its lettering pondering her future is very familiar
indeed. Luhrmann uses the same sweeping camera angles and lingering close-ups to convey the characters' emotions and desires to wonderful effect.
Perhaps the most striking similarity for me is the scene in which we see
Kidman's character longingly peering out a window of Santoro's characters' room, with her lover sitting on the bed behind her, his gaze lowered towards the floor in despair. In the doorway is a Harry Zidler type figure who instructs sternly, "You must
be there tomorrow," to which Kidman's character wistfully replies, "I don't care about tomorrow." This powerful scene
is similar to that in Moulin Rouge where Zidler confronts Satine and she attempts to defy him by declaring that she wants to stay with her lover. However, Zidler keeps his hold on her and she
fulfils her duty to perform on stage. Kidman's character does the same in this role, returning to her place in the public eye and leaving her lover to look on and wonder what could have been. However, as
Kidman's character turns in her stunning black gown to stare up at her lover, the way she looks at him, the way the camera lingers on her smile, we can see that he will always have a place in her heart."
UK Television Premiere
The Chanel No. 5 film premiered on UK television on Saturday, 20th November 2004. It was shown during the entire first commercial break on Channel 4 during a 9pm screening of
Moulin Rouge. The Chanel No. 5 premiere occurred around 9:20pm and included the one minute credit sequence. This was the first time I'd ever seen this third minute of the film. During the credit sequence, they kept the 'mythical city' background and this was accompanied by soft background music. Elegant white scrolled text appeared onscreen, firstly displaying single credits, ie. "Directed by Baz Luhrmann", "Production Design by Catherine Martin". Then after about four or five of these single accreditations it switched to mass credits with lots of production team names in smaller text. At the very end of the credits, a very
Moulin Rouge-like sequence occurred where we saw the phrases, "Her kiss, her smile, her perfume", appear separately onscreen, before fading to black.
After the initial UK premiere, the Chanel No. 5 film was shown on various television networks on a regular basis. However, for the purposes of scheduling, the film's running time
was cut considerably. I first read about this shortening of the film in an article by the
Telegraph (which I have posted here), where it was reported that it had been "ruthlessly cut to 30 seconds." I would say it
went a little longer than this, perhaps around 40 seconds. I did at first wonder how they would manage to transform the two minute story into a much shorter sequence.
However, I am pleased to say the transition worked well, and the essence of the story and indeed the whole
feeling of the film did remain. I assume Luhrmann and co. were responsible
for releasing this edited version as well as the full film, and I expect this shortened version
was also shown on television screens worldwide.
Vogue Articles
Stunning articles were featured in both the US and Australian versions of Vogue magazine in September/October 2004. I have posted both of these scanned articles below, and I highly recommend them. The articles provide an insightful look into the mind of Luhrmann through his own personal diary entries. Additionally, I have also posted a link to an article featured in the November 2004 edition of the UK version of Vogue magazine.
(Special thanks to Nicole Kidman United for allowing me to use these articles)
Australian News Video Footage
Click here to view an Australian news video giving details about the Chanel No. 5 film. The video runs for 47 seconds and shows parts of the ad, including Kidman running along the street in a gorgeous pink feathered gown, as well as Kidman putting on diamonds behind the scenes. This video was posted on the National Nine News website around 5th October 2004. Please note - this link could become inactive at any time. Please contact me if you find that this link is no longer operational.
Australian Magazine Articles
The Chanel No. 5 film has received a lot of publicity in the Australian press, including magazine and newspaper articles, some of which are featured below. The media attention was probably largely due to Luhrmann being a native Australian, and also because the film premiered in Australia before anywhere else in the world.
(Special thanks to Nicole Kidman United for allowing me to use these scanned articles)
Love
In a Bottle
(If Magazine, November
2004)
Nicole's New Romance
(Woman's Day - November 2004)
Once Upon a Star
(Harpers Bazaar - November 2004)
Life Imitates Art
(OK Magazine - October 2004)
Sweet Smell of Success
(New Idea - October 2004)
Moulin
Rouge's Aromatic Louvre Premiere
(The Australian - 22 October 2004)
Nicole's
Sweet Moment
(The Sun-Herald - 22 August 2004)
Miscellaneous News Articles
Please feel free to visit the links below to read various news articles from various countries relating to the production, the anticipation and the reaction to the release of the Chanel No. 5 film.
Production
(Articles re: the film shoot)
Anticipation
(Articles re: the anticipation of the film's release)
Reaction
(Articles re: the reaction to the film's release)
Chanel No. 5 Press Kit
An impressive press kit was distributed to journalists to promote the Chanel No. 5 film, featuring a hardback coffee table book with beautiful pictures from the film. The press kit also includes a copy of the script that includes notes and photos, with all items contained within a hardcover box. If anyone has a copy of this press kit they would like to sell on, feel free to contact me! :-)
