''No. 5 the Film'' (2004) is a 180-second

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

directed by

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

(''

Romeo + Juliet Romeo Montague () is the male protagonist of William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Romeo and Juliet''. The son of Lord Montague and his wife, Lady Montague, he secretly loves and marries Juliet, a member of the rival House of Capulet, through a pries ...

'', ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'') and starring

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

and

Rodrigo Santoro Rodrigo Junqueira Reis Santoro (; born 22 August 1975) is a Brazilian actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Persian King Xerxes in the movie ''300'' (2006) and its sequel '' 300: Rise of an Empire'' (2014). Other famous movies include ' ...

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

designed the costumes; he also briefly appears in the film. It is part of a new breed of

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

crossover films known as

branded content In marketing, branded content (also known as branded entertainment) is content produced by an advertiser or content whose creation was funded by an advertiser. In contrast to content marketing (in which content is presented first and foremost as a ...

. It had a budget of

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

33 million, financed exclusively by Chanel. Visually captivating, the film is an extended

television commercial A television advertisement (also called a television commercial, TV commercial, commercial, spot, television spot, TV spot, advert, television advert, TV advert, television ad, TV ad or simply an ad) is a span of television programming produce ...

for

Chanel No. 5 Chanel No. 5 was the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an impo ...

perfume Perfume (, ; french: parfum) is a mixture of fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agreeable scent. Th ...

. The film was initially screened in many North American

cinema Cinema may refer to: Film * Cinematography, the art of motion-picture photography * Film or movie, a series of still images that create the illusion of a moving image ** Film industry, the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking ...

s during the "Coming Attractions" section preceding the main feature. During the 2006 Christmas season, an edited 30-second TV spot was shown on primetime on many networks in Canada and the United States. Kidman was paid $3 million for her role in the advertisement.

Runtime

The original version after preliminary editing came to around 360 seconds, but this was later edited to a more manageable 180 seconds, including 60 seconds of credits, for television broadcast and cinema advertisement. Further cutting has led to subsequent 90-second (as seen in the UK) and 30-second (seen mostly in the U.S. and Canada) versions of the advert, shown after the first runs of the advert.

Plot

A famous celebrity (

) runs away in a pink dress in the middle of

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

in New York City, only to get into a cab with the one man who does not know who she is, a plot line similar to ''

Roman Holiday ''Roman Holiday'' is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed and produced by William Wyler. It stars Audrey Hepburn as a princess out to see Rome on her own and Gregory Peck as a reporter. Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress f ...

''. After four days in his Lower East Side apartment, her secretary (Lagerfeld) commands her to return to her life as a celebrity."Every second counts in $42m three-minute 'film'"
by Charlotte Edwards, ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 22 November 2004 The paparazzi take pictures of her as she walks up stairs, and she looks at big letters, a graphical device often used in Luhrmann's ''

Red Curtain Trilogy The ''Red Curtain Trilogy'' is a DVD boxed set, released in 2002, of the first three films directed by Baz Luhrmann: * '' Strictly Ballroom'' (1992), starring Paul Mercurio and Tara Morice * ''Romeo + Juliet'' (1996), starring Leonardo DiCaprio ...

'', on top of a building that read "

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

" with her lover standing next to them. They smile at each other and then the credits are shown.

Music

The main musical theme of the film is Claude Debussy's " Clair de lune", arranged by Craig Armstrong and performed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Sequel

In 2014 Baz Luhrmann created a sequel film titled ''Chanel No. 5: The One That I Want''. The film stars

model A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

Gisele Bündchen and actor

Michiel Huisman Michiel Huisman (; born 18 July 1981) is a Dutch actor who has acted in both Dutch and English-language TV series and films. Huisman began his career in the Dutch soap opera ''Goede tijden, slechte tijden'' (1998). He later played in the Dutc ...

."A Conversation with Baz Luhrmann on Chanel No. 5's ''The One That I Want''"
by Sunhee Grinnell, '' Vanity Fair'', 15 October 2014

References

External links

* * * {{Chanel 2004 short films 2004 films Sponsored films Promotional films Films directed by Baz Luhrmann Chanel 2000s English-language films American short films