CHANEL Unveils N˚5 Film, Train de Nuit, Starring Acclaimed French Actress Audrey Tautou for the re-launch of CHANEL N°5.

CHANEL unveils the highly anticipated short film, Train de Nuit, starring actress Audrey Tautou and directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. This artistic piece will launch at 12:00AM on May 5, 2009 exclusively at http://www.chaneln5.com

To celebrate the iconic fragrance and latest campaign, May 5, 2009 has been designated by the city of New York as CHANEL N˚5 Day. CHANEL and Saks Fifth Avenue have partnered for this significant occasion during which a portion of Fifth Avenue will be renamed AVENUE N˚5 for the week.

CHANEL will unveil the highly anticipated short film titled, Train de Nuit starring acclaimed actress Audrey Tautou, directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. This artistic piece will launch May, 5, 2009 at 12:00AM on www.chaneln5.com

Audrey Tautou incarnates the CHANEL N° 5 woman – seductive and elegant with an irreverent spirit and timeless modernity. “N° 5” the film is a tale of chance and fate – a brief encounter between a man and a woman traveling to Istanbul on the Orient Express night train with an intertwining of two destinies that will be brought together by a scent like no other.

In this film, Jean-Pierre Jeunet reveals the intriguing world of CHANEL N° 5 and the power of its seduction. Enchanting and alluring, Audrey Tautou is today’s face of CHANEL N° 5. “For me, a woman who wears perfume represents the ultimate in femininity,” states Tautou. “When a woman has a pleasant or mysterious scent, it adds a little something to
her.”

In this cinematic dialogue, the legend of N° 5 lives on. Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s Amelie, the 2001 film collaboration between Tautou and Jeunet that marked the beginning of their creative relationship, became a phenomenal success and was recognized with international awards. In 2003 the pair partnered once again for A Very Long Engagement, a film with poignant visual and emotional intensity.

“For N° 5, Audrey was the first person who came to mind,” notes Jeunet. “We needed a very expressive actress in very short shots, someone who could act with her eyes alone, and God knows that I know her eyes well.”

Audrey Tautou will join the legendary league of women who have represented CHANEL N° 5. Her elegance and beauty follow in the path of the iconic faces featured in CHANEL fragrance campaigns, including Nicole Kidman, Ali McGraw, Carole Bouquet, Lauren Hutton and Catherine Deneuve. The cinematic partnership between Audrey Tautou and Jean-Pierre Jeunet continues the tradition of CHANEL pairing influential directors and their muses for short films, such as Nicole Kidman and Baz Luhrman, and Keira Knightley and Joe Wright.

The film’s soundtrack, “I’m a Fool to Love You” is performed by legendary soul singer, Billie Holiday. Jeunet selected the song “for its absolute charm, her distinctive voice and the lyrics that evoke the folly of an encounter of love.” Designed to reflect Coco Chanel’s very modern fashion philosophy, CHANEL N° 5 is a rich modern floral blend of jasmine, rose, patchouli, iris and ylang-ylang with gentle precious woods. The world’s most famous fragrance, made its debut in 1921. Coco Chanel asked the great perfumer, Ernest Beaux, to create a fragrance that reflected her very modern fashion philosophy. N° 5 was her lucky number and it was the fifth submission presented to Mademoiselle Chanel on the fifth day of the fifth month of the year, thus a legend was born with the name CHANEL N° 5.

-Tautou’s first lead role came in 1999, in the film Venus Beauty Institute, for which she received the César French film award for the “Most Promising Actress”. Tautou was soon discovered by Jeunet and he cast her in the lead role for Amelie, then again in 2003 for The Very Long Engagement. Her first Hollywood production came in 2006 as Agent Sophie Neveu in Ron Howard’s The Da Vinci Code. Her most recent project includes Anne Fonaine’s 2009 film, Coco Avant Chanel, where Audrey brings the early years of the couturiere’s life as a young woman of modest means.

CHANEL, the international luxury goods company, was founded in France by Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel in 1924. The company, which is privately held, offers a broad range of luxury products, including Ready-to-Wear, fragrance, cosmetics, leather goods, accessories, Fine Jewelry and Watches, through a U.S. network of 24 boutiques and at select retailers. Haute Couture collections are presented exclusively in Paris. CHANEL maintains 151 boutiques and shops worldwide, including the legendary House of CHANEL on the rue Cambon in Paris. Under the guidance of designer Karl Lagerfeld, the House of CHANEL remains dedicated to luxury, fashion, style and image.