''Chéri'' is a 2009 romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film directed by

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

from a screenplay by

Christopher Hampton Sir Christopher James Hampton (born 26 January 1946) is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses (play), ''Les Liaisons Dangereuses'' based on the Les Liaisons da ...

, based on the 1920 novel of the same name and its 1926 sequel '' The Last of Chéri'' by French author

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

. It stars

Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer ( ; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress. She was one of the most bankable stars in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood during the 1980s and 1990s, and her List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, performances ...

and

Rupert Friend Rupert William Anthony Friend (born October 1981) is a British actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in ''The Libertine (2004 film), The Libertine'' (2004) and ''Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for ...

. The film premiered at the

59th Berlin International Film Festival The 59th Berlin International Film Festival was held from 5 February to 15 February 2009. The opening film of the festival was Tom Tykwer’s '' The International'', screened out of competition. Costa-Gavras's '' Eden Is West'' served as the clos ...

Plot

In 1900s Paris, wealthy, middle-aged retired

courtesan A courtesan is a prostitute with a courtly, wealthy, or upper-class clientele. Historically, the term referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other powerful person. History In European feudal society, the co ...

Léa starts an affair with Fred, nicknamed Cheri ("Dear" or "Darling"), the 19-year-old only son of another even wealthier courtesan. A famous beauty, Léa has been successful at extracting large sums of money from her up-scale clients, never falling in love with any of them. At first, Léa takes Chéri off her "friend" (and former rival) Charlotte's hands as a favor, as his dissipated lifestyle is irritating to Charlotte and unhealthy for Chéri. Although Léa only plans on keeping Chéri around for a short while, their affair turns into a six-year relationship, in which Léa pays for Chéri's expenses, (although he has access to considerable wealth from his mother) and Chéri wears Léa's silk pajamas and pearls. Although they satisfy each other both sexually and emotionally, the two convince themselves that their affair is casual, but they are the only real friend the other has. Her status as a former prostitute and his as the son of one make them outsiders who can only be fully honest and relaxed together. Léa learns Chéri's mother has arranged for him to marry the daughter of another courtesan, 18-year-old Edmée, as Charlotte has decided she wants grandchildren, largely to make up for her years of neglecting Chéri. Despite not wishing to marry Edmée, whom he finds boring, Chéri has no choice as he stands to inherit a fortune from Charlotte. Léa cheerfully kicks him out of her home but makes Chéri promise to always be gentle and kind with Edmée and to try to give her a good life. After Chéri agrees, the two part ways, both putting on an air of unconcern, as much to convince themselves as the rest of the world that their affair had just been for amusement. Léa does not attend the wedding, and Chéri and Edmée leave for their honeymoon. It is only after Chéri is on the train to Italy for his honeymoon that both he and Léa realise they are in love with each other. Chéri consummates his marriage with Edmée, but their lovemaking is perfunctory; Edmée is in love with Chéri, but he cannot summon any emotion for her. Léa visits Charlotte before running off on vacation, making up a story in which she is involved with another suitor, when in fact the only man Léa beds while on vacation is a young bodybuilder whom she has no feelings for and regards as a one-night stand. Meanwhile, Edmée accuses Chéri of not caring about her and says all he ever does is think of Léa. While out on the town with a friend, Chéri tries

opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...

and

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

, and on his way back he notices that Léa's apartment is no longer empty and she has returned home. Comforted by this fact, Chéri runs home to Edmée where he has sex with her properly and kindly, thinking that he can now live in peace, juggling both women. He sends Charlotte the next day to investigate Léa's homelife, whereupon Léa claims she is in love with her new "suitor", and Charlotte tells her that Chéri and Edmée are likewise in love and happier than ever. That night, jealous and wanting to confront Léa about her new suitor, Chéri breaks into her home and admits he loves her. They have sex, and plan on running away together. In the morning, however, Chéri notices the wrinkles on Léa's face in the light of day, and she sees his doubt. She apologizes to Chéri for "ruining him" and making life too easy on him when they first began their affair. Léa tells Chéri to go back to Edmée, for their age difference would always prevent a true relationship from blossoming between them. Tentatively, Chéri leaves as Léa watches, hoping he will turn back. Both crestfallen and elated by a new sense of freedom, he walks on, as Léa stares into her mirror at her aging face. Years later, Chéri goes through World War I without a scratch but realises that Léa was the only woman he could ever love, and commits suicide.

Cast

Release

''Chéri'' premiered in the main competition section of the

. The film was released theatrically in France on 8 April 2009 by

Pathé Distribution Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

and in the United Kingdom on 8 May 2009 by Pathé's distribution partner Warner Bros. Entertainment UK, marking the first film released under the then-recent theatrical distribution deal between the two companies. The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on 21 September 2009 by

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment 20th Century Home Entertainment (previously known as Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, LLC. and also known as 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment) was a home video distribution arm that distributes films produced by 20th Century Stud ...

. As of 2021,

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

is currently re-releasing Pathé's film library in the United Kingdom.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 52% based on 137 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A too-short script and a romance lacking in heat detracts from an otherwise haughty charmer."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Stephen Dalton of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' reviewed the film favourably, describing Hampton's screenplay as a "steady flow of dry quips and acerbic one-liners" and Pfeiffer's performance as "magnetic and subtle, her worldly nonchalance a mask for vulnerability and heartache."

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' wrote that it was "fascinating to observe how Pfeiffer controls her face and voice during times of painful hurt."

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' praised the "wordless scenes that catch Léa unawares, with the camera alone seeing the despair and regret that she hides from the world. It's the kind of refined, delicate acting Pfeiffer does so well, and it's a further reminder of how much we've missed her since she's been away."

References

External links

* * *
''Chéri''
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheri 2009 films 2009 romantic comedy-drama films 2000s British films 2000s English-language films 2000s French films 2000s German films 2000s historical comedy-drama films 2000s historical romance films Belle Époque British historical comedy-drama films British historical romance films British romantic comedy-drama films English-language French films English-language German films English-language historical comedy-drama films English-language historical romance films English-language romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Stephen Frears Films based on French novels Films based on multiple works of a series Films based on romance novels Films based on works by Colette Films scored by Alexandre Desplat Films set in the 1900s Films set in Paris Films shot at Shepperton Studios Films shot in Cologne Films shot in Paris Films with screenplays by Christopher Hampton French historical comedy-drama films French historical romance films French romantic comedy-drama films German historical comedy-drama films German historical romance films German romantic comedy-drama films Pathé films UK Film Council films