Chanel has gifted us another of their memorable campaigns, this time with none other than the legendary vision of Martin Scorsese behind the camera and the fresh talent of Gen Z superstar Timothée Chalamet in front of it, forming a duo that exudes the elegance, boldness, and timeless spirit of one of the house's signature fragrances, Bleu de Chanel. The duality between personal and celebrity life is reflected with intensity in a couple of minutes, and with shades of blue that light the way to freedom, the short film speaks Chanel from start to finish.
No stranger to the house, Martin Scorsese creates a second part of the story that started in 2010 with his first short film for Bleu de Chanel, starring cherished French icon Gaspard Ulliel. This time, thirteen years later, another beloved actor takes the direction of the legendary filmmaker, embodying the coolness and timeless boldness of the current Chanel. Timothée Chalamet is starring in a role that may feel close to what we imagine his real life is, but of course, with the stylized lenses of Scorsese and Chanel in between.
Chalamet is a man on a quest to find himself in a black-and-white world of lights, flashes, and cameras. The line between the true self and the celebrity persona gets more and more blurry, and our main character feels the call of freedom and authenticity symbolised by the blue gleams present all along, sometimes also personified by the actress Havana Rose Liu. This idea is very similar to the original Bleu film but adapted to the mindset of our current times, as explained by Scorsese himself, where there's a new aspect to celebrity status, one that desires to be more genuine and true to oneself.
To the rhythm of Herbie Hancock's 1983 hit Rockit, whose music video interestingly enough has blue as a key colour, the film progresses until it reaches the climax, with Timothée diving into the charismatic Bleu and coming face-to-face with his inner truth, dismissing the facades and embracing the vulnerability within, just as intended by the fragrance creators, whose concept for the perfume was perfectly translated in visual form.