Michelle Pfeiffer in "Chéri"
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It seems to be all things French on this blog for the past while.
Michelle Pfeiffer is radiant (and tragic, like a rose whose petals are falling off) in Colette's novel-turned-film "Chéri."
The petals scene I described is actually from the film. This is yet another decadent French story, this time of a much older woman and a younger man, who remain for six years together until reality hits them.
Colette's novel is magnificently brought to the silver (or I should say, bejewelled) screens, with Michelle's subtle and intelligent acting winning all the scenes.
I was surprised to see the film critics can this film. When I first read them, my first thought (after seeing the trailer) was that they couldn't handle how beautiful it was - like too much chocolate, said one critic.
Well, yes, it is beautiful. Yet, surprisingly, there is an attempt to ground the two characters in some kind of morality. Although Michelle saved her young man from drugs, alcoholism and general debauchery, she understood that she had left him addicted to a kind of narcissistic love that she (or anyone else) could never fulfill.
Beauty cannot stand on its own. It needs Truth and Goodness. Michelle's character, Léa, tried all that, but the latter two came too late.
Only the French know how to do decadent with a moral twist.
Of course, I would watch the film only for the costumes and the hats, and the beautiful gardens that seemed to be everywhere. Film is only film, after all.
