What does a doting, yet also distraught mother do, when she sees her only son hell-bent on a dissolute and debilitating life of debauchery? Arising from slumbers late, hung over and surly, Chéri, (played by Rupert Friend) behaves like a lot of 19 year olds who are spoiled rotten and maternally (financially) dependant he is egocentric and presumptuous; he gives little and takes a lot.
Madam Peloux (played by Kathy Bates) decides to appeal for help, asking her friend and once ‘business’ rival, Léa (played by Michelle Pfeiffer), to take her son under her wing.
Léa, who has known Chéri since he was a baby, (in fact, Léa nicknamed him Chéri, his actual name is Fred), is only momentarily shocked when the young rake kisses her, but then she kisses him back.
So starts a torrid six year affair, with the mother’s tacit blessings one is left to wonder whether Madam Peloux sees the situation as, ‘better the devil you know’? However, an eventuality arises that cleaves the arrangement apart. Madam Peloux wants to be a grandmother and has found the bride, a naïve girl called Edmeé, (played by Felicity Jones), who is also the daughter of a successful prostitute.
This film is not set in today’s world, but in 1906, in gorgeous Paris. We are taken into a world inhabited by the Grande Dames of the Belle Époque, the high class prostitutes of that era, who commanded great fees and notoriety, who promenaded in the most fabulous haute couture, yet they were shunned in polite society. They were the playthings of the extremely wealthy and the even wealthier nobility.
They were also known for their astute investments and once they reached retirement age, they enjoyed great privilege, yet still, they could only associate with each other for friendship. The wives of the nobility and the rich tolerated their husbands’ peccadilloes, as long as they didn’t have to see it in their own social circles.
This film is not a morality play, yet, in the world of the top class prostitute at that time, they had their own behaviour codes, within which they lived.
This tale, (based on two books written by the famous French author Colette, “Chéri” and “La Fin de Chéri”), delves into an affair between a young man and an older woman, with all the fleeting physical pleasures and emotional pitfalls that a large age gap will produce.
The film is beautifully shot, by D.O.P. Darius Khondji (A.F.C., A.S.C.), and seemlessly edited by Lucia Zucchetti. The production design by Alan MacDonald is superb, he dressed the main character’s homes to reflect not just their exterior personality, but to subtly reflect their inner, occluded emotional world.
These high class prostitutes have long learnt the lesson; hide what you really feel and always present a calm, reasonable and accepting personality. Of course, between themselves, they like to tear small strips off each other.
The screenplay (by Christopher Hampton) is caustically witty at times, yet sparse enough to allow the actors and the director, Stephan Frears, (of “The Queen” and “Dangerous Liaisons” fame), to wend their craft, adding a depth and poise that otherwise would have not been achieved. The wonderful performances by Pfeiffer, Bates and Friend are played with an arresting, yet subtle force.
The physical love scenes between the older woman Léa and the younger Chéri does, at times, seem a touch superficial. Whether this is by intent, or because of a lack of chemistry, I am unsure; I would have to watch it again. However, this is far from a criticism, it is a testament to the complexity of the characters created, which only makes one want to see it again, to catch more of the emotional undercurrents within.
Léa, a worldly woman, is the consummate player of men yet it is her dalliance with the young Chéri that quietly unravels her inner emotional world, which in turn, is eventually the undoing of Chéri.
The settings, in art nouveau Paris and the incredibly beautiful costumes (designed by Consolata Boyle) make this a splendid production to see.
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