Stephen Frears reunion with Dangerous Liaison screenwriter Christopher Hampton for CHERI can be considered another achievement but the fact that it’s dreadfully slow and often overshadowed by… its sophisticated humor that tickles only Literature teachers would make CHERI one of those most under-appreciated films of of the year. Michelle Pfeiffer’s excellent performance proves that age and beauty can go together with talent that lasts a lifetime.
An adaptation of the 1920s novel by French author Colette about the lingering effects of a romance between a middle-aged woman (Pfeiffer) and a wealthy young man (Friend). Set in 1920s Paris, where the young son of a wealthy courtesan (Bates) is educated in the ways of love by a middle-aged friend of the man’s mother. When he is forced to give up the six-year relationship after marrying someone else, the young man can’t forget her and retreats into a fantasy world.
I really enjoy the story, and Hampton’s adaptation is one that doesn’t waste time but if you can’t keep up with the dialogue, you might find CHERI boring. Frears focuses on scenes that show a bunch of courtesans having conversations, mocking each other through their sarcasms, while pretending to still be friends because they share one common background. Kathy Bates’ character Madame Peloux is very good at inducing pain into the hearts of Pfeiffer’s character Lea, to make Lea feel insecure and inferior. Just like how Frears tried to show the audience the effects of years of burdens and pressure that Queen Elizabeth on top of Diana’s tragedy in The Queen, Frears wants to show the agony and anguish beneath the smile and the glamor that Lea uses as her front. How age has finally caught up with her and took its toll.
It’s a love story of an unlikely couple because Cheri, played by Rupert Friend, is young enough to be Lea’s son. From a few weeks of fling, it fast forwards to 6 years later showing a surprisingly steady relationship where they’re so comfortable with each other’s company, one can’t imagine life anymore without the other. Screenplay Christopher Hampton wisely chooses situations that would explain the character development in his adaptation but once again, if you’re impatient, then you’ll find it difficult sitting through the whole thing.
So when separation comes along, it hurts both characters like a junkie without a drug. Rule number one for courtesan is to never fall in love and Lea broke that cardinal rule. Halfway through the movie we see each of them try to fill the void, Lea by romancing another young man, Cheri by pleasing his wife though his heart’s not in it. Not until the end, the final confrontation where we see the two characters realize that they can’t be together as much as they want to because like it or not, they can tell that the years have changed them a bit. The feelings are still there but they’re motivated jealousy, bitterness, and anger, instead of the carefree fun living they used to know. The last narration leaves a haunting chills down our spine.
Michelle Pfeiffer does an excellent job as an aging courtesan who just can’t accept the facts of life, that her better days are behind him. No matter what exterior you might put on, the sadness will show itself sooner or later and the face can’t hide it no more.
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