tMF | The Movie-Fanatic

I will always remember Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Liaisons because she acted so vulnerable and so fragile, and that death scene was simply hearthbreaking, then there was The Age of Innocence. I don't know why I specifically like watching her on period films, but she seems so at ease acting a character that lived in the past, even if it's only a fictional one. Then of course, I have to laugh watching her turn into an ugly witch in Stardust! So, her return to the screen, via the period film Cheri, and with Dangerous Liaisons director Sthepen Frears on the helm is such a refreshing news!

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Of course, the fact that her co-star happens to be Rupert Friend, adds more to the excitement! Says Friend:

I do not have a concern to make the character likable. I have a concern to play him truthfully. I believe that if you can discover something of the truth of a person, then you will start to understand, and to understand is to move towards, if not like, then at least an empathy of some kind. My concern was certainly not to try and smooth out his bad bits. Colette wrote a very complicated young man, and I don’t think he was a standard, square-jawed hero—quite the reverse in many ways. And when you start to look at why that might have been—What has kept him a child for so long? Was it Léa’s fault? Could you put it at her feet? Is it his mother’s fault? Is it society’s fault? Or was he just born that way?—it’s  more interesting than trying to paint a sympathetic picture every time. [ read more ]

With such an attitude, I would certainly look forward to Cheri! I just think Mr. Friend's acting abilities has been overshadowed by his relationship with Keira Knightley, but having seen him in Pride and Prejudice, though only playing a supporting part, I find him to be quite a good actor. Given a fantastic role, perhaps would enable Rupert to finally convince audiences (and those in the industry) that he has what it takes to become one of cinema's top leading men. I think this film will give him that chance!

More about Cheri: In Chéri, Michelle Pfeiffer reunites with the writer (Christopher Hampton) and director (Stephen Frears) of Dangerous Liaisons (1988) for another romp through the sexual mores and social terrain of an earlier period. In this case, it's 1906 in Paris, and Pfeiffer is Léa de Lonval, an aging-but-still-stunningly-beautiful courtesan confronting her future as a woman of a certain age. Fortunately, she has the luxury of a fortune amassed over several decades: a reward for her smart business acumen, her fierce independence-quite rare for women of the time-and her obvious skill in the seduction and pleasure of men.

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Chéri is an amplification of the rich details found in two seminal short novels by the French writer Colette (herself a liberated woman of a certain age), in which courtesans are in a social class of their own. Educated, wealthy, and elegant, yet not invited to mix socially with the rest of the riche, these women have banded together to form their own well-heeled (but catty) society. [ read more ]

Insightful Interview with Rupert Friend: The intro to the actor says a lot:

Rupert Friend is the handsome young dilettante who catches Michelle Pfeiffer's eye in Stephen Frears' Chéri, opening on Friday, June 26. The film, which also stars Kathy Bates as Friend's mother, is eye candy wrapped in eye candy: set in the drawing rooms, gardens, and boudoirs of 1906 Paris, the sumptuous design is reminiscent of Merchant and Ivory's lovely period pieces. [ read more ]

More of Cheri and other great films at Tribeca!