Review

Review Date: 28-June-09
Spoiler Rating: High
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Chéri (2009)

Next March, expect to see Chéri competing for Academy Awards in Art Direction and Costume Design. In the Art Nouveau world presented by eclectic director Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters, The Queen), every element from glassware to hair clips to headboards is ravishing and historically evocative. The eye candy alone is reason to see this movie. How delicious that it offers a resonant love story as well.

"Chéri" is the pet name of a feckless young Frenchman in the early 1900s. He is played by Brit Rupert Friend, whose previous roles did not prepare me for the skill he displays here. At the beginning of the picture Chéri gives up a life of debauchery to become the lover of Lea, a woman of more than twice his 19 years (Michelle Pfeiffer). Her seductiveness — the result of a long and successful career as a courtesan — is not the only thing that attracts him. He is looking for the affection he never received from his mother (Kathy Bates), who was also a professional companion and had no time to waste on a son. For her part, Lea is trying to handle age and retirement gracefully. At first a boy toy seems like a temporary tonic, but then six years elapse during which they grow accustomed to each other's company. When Chéri's mother arranges a marriage for him, they finally realize they are in love.

The couple accepts Chéri's marriage without a fight, he because of his mother's iron will, Lea because she does not want to prevent him from having a normal life, and both because they have always regarded their May-December romance as destined to end. Alas, neither youth nor experience urges them to follow their hearts. He marries, and they sink into separate depressions. The film finds pathos in the wanderings of people thus cut off from joy.

Lea is the more stoic even though she has a bleaker future in front of her: one of decay, loneliness, and obscurity. Pfeiffer trod a similar path in The Age of Innocence and is adept at portraying its pain and sacrifice. When Lea sees Chéri again, her resignation and the harshness of reality dictate the outcome. Dazzled by the visual beauty of the tale, the viewer is left to share the afterglow of what they did have and the regret for what they never could.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.