Brad Pitt mystifies as first male face of Chanel No.5

Brad Pitt made his debut as the first male face of Chanel's iconic No.5 fragrance on Monday, in an ad campaign that had fans and fashionistas split on the actor's latest role.

Pitt, 48, is seen with long hair and dressed casually, looking wistfully into the camera in an enigmatic black-and-white video directed by "Atonement" filmmaker Joe Wright.

"It's not a journey. Every journey ends, but we go on. The world turns, and we turn with it. Plans disappear, dreams take over. But wherever I go, there you are, my luck, my fate, my fortune. Chanel No.5, inevitable," the "Moneyball" actor says.

The video is part of a $10 million advertising campaign for which Pitt was paid $7 million, according to Women's Wear Daily.

Time magazine's Erik Hayden called the ad "nonsensical," saying Pitt's "vaguely existential monologue ... sounds like it could plausibly have been discarded narration from the trailer for Terrence Malick's (film) 'Tree of Life.'"

Us Weekly's Zach Johnson called the video "sensual," while Vanity Fair's Amy Fine Collins said the choice to cast Pitt as spokesperson showed the French fashion house "subtly circling back to its gender-twisting origins."

Pitt is the first male spokesperson for women's fragrance Chanel No.5, the first perfume launched by legendary French designer Coco Chanel in 1921.

In a statement from Chanel, the actor called the fragrance "revolutionary."

"N°5 has always been the most iconic women's fragrance," Pitt said. "That's what I see being the appeal of this campaign; it goes beyond the abstract of emotion or beauty to evoke what is timeless: a woman's spirit."

Chanel No.5 has been represented by actresses Audrey Tatou, Nicole Kidman and Catherine Deneuve in the past. It has also been linked with screen icon Marilyn Monroe after she famously said the fragrance was all she wore to bed.