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Chéri is an irresistible invitation into the seductive world of courtesans, immoral indulgence and bitter female rivalry. In a world of hedonism and female sexual power, aging courtesans struggle to cling onto their fading youth, beauty and position within their small social sphere.
Set during the time of the diminishing belle époque of France in the 1920s, Chéri is a cinematic adaptation of the eponymous novel by Colette. Directed and written by Stephen Frears and Christopher Hampton respectively, Chéri focuses on a circle of wealthy and very bored women who are past their youth and are shunned by society for their past, or outrageously current, immoral occupations. They only have each other for company and they spend their days indulging in physical and material pleasures.
Beautiful and retired courtesan, Léa De Lonval (Michelle Pfeiffer), begins a six-year affair with Fred, the debauched 18-year-old son of her rival-turned-friend and fellow retired courtesan, Madame Peloux (Kathy Bates). What follows is a vaguely romantic but undeniably sexual encounter between Léa and Fred, which borders on being incestuous, given the substitute mother figure Léa seems to play. Rupert Friend (best known as Prince Albert from The Young Victoria) plays the pale, hollow-cheeked Fred a.k.a. 'Chéri', whose dark mysterious eyes are meant to convey some angst and pain. Friend, however, fails to portray the depth of feeling behind his character. He enters scenes where he is meant to be the epitome of unfulfilled and frustrated love unconvincingly and seems to rely heavily on his physical appearance as a pretty youth instead. There do not seem to be any memorable scenes which display his competency in acting and Friend falls back into a very safe position of merely playing the role without adding much colour or intensity to the words of his character.
On the other hand, Michelle Pfeiffer is the epitome of aging beauty and brilliance in acting. She carries herself with such elegance and cool confidence, and her movements and words arrest our attention. Pfeiffer is coquettish, playful and witty; she plays her role casually but convincingly. There is something mesmerising about Pfeiffer and one could not help but feel that perhaps one of the reasons is that one tries to catch glimpses of that porcelain youthful beauty which Pfeiffer herself used to be. Not only does Pfeiffer physically resemble the part of a woman with advancing years, but she also manages to depict that inner struggle between fading youth and imminent age.
Although the acting in this movie may not be thoroughly commendable, Chéri is worth watching for its superb cinematography and beautifully detailed costumes. There is, however, no denying that this movie caters towards a female audience.
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