Léa has just ended her last affair and is contemplating leaving the courtesan life behind and retiring in great style. She invites Chéri to come to her house in Normandy to get away from it all with her and they fall in love. He stays with her for six years until his mother, wanting grandchildren, arranges a marriage with the daughter of another courtesan. Being ripped apart sends them both into despair; Léa heads to Biarritz to try and move on while Chéri is on his honeymoon in Italy, but neither can get over the other. When Léa finally returns to Paris, Chéri comes to her, but only for her to talk him into doing what must be done and return to his marriage.

Chéri is adapted from the novel by the Colette, who no doubt based it on her own scandalous affair with her stepson. The period it is set in is one of great excess where the “famous” courtesans lived a life that makes the celebrities of today look downright modest. The clothes, houses and locations in the movie are gorgeous, especially Léa’s Art Nouveau home in Paris.

Directed by Stephen Frears (Dangerous Liaisons, The Grifters), Chéri is both very funny and quite sad, just the right balance for a romance. Rent it and stay in with a nice bottle of French wine.

Chéri was released in 2009.