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CHÉRI
“THE FILM’S PALETTE IS A PASTEL-HEAVY MIX OF LAVENDER AND SEPIA, EGGSHELL BLUES AND LIGHTLY ROUGED FLESHTONES...”
➤ According to one critic: “Frears and his team shake off the stagey cobwebs that often clutter period drama by shooting in airy Art Nou- veau interiors ablaze with silks, bro- cades and pearls.
“The film’s palette is a pastel- heavy mix of lavender and sepia, eggshell blues and lightly rouged fleshtones, evoking the retro charm of colourised Victorian postcards. The perfect look for this breezy, bit- tersweet fondant fancy of a film.”
Frears, riding high thanks to The Queen, agreed to come on board within 24 hours of reading the screenplay claiming he was at- tracted to the project partly because of Hampton’s evocative work but also because it was a chance to ex- plore an era some 100 years re- moved from The Queen.
“Christopher’s script was won- derful and Colette is a brilliant writer and the story seemed very fresh to me,” says the director. “It’s so beautiful, so old-fashioned and so frivolousandyetalsosomelan- cholic and tragic, and at the same time very clever. That’s because Colette was such a clever writer. She’s an impressionist.
“The story is a series of impres- sions and making them all add up into something is the challenge. It’s
the most extreme film I’ve ever made and the most original story about people living in a bubble. These women were very powerful and had a lot of influence, but they lived in an enclosed society which was cut off from the mainstream.”
Frears claims he relies entirely on his cinematographer and produc- tion and costume designers for how the film will look. Those who worked with him, however, know just how crucial his input was in the making of the film.
Chéri marks award-winning cine- matographer Darius Khondji’s first collaboration with Frears. “Stephen is a very visual director,” says Khondji, Iran-born now Paris-based, whose films include Delicatessen, Seven and Evita.
“He has a feel of what’s right and wrong for the mood but unlike other directors he doesn’t talk about an- gles and camera positions. With Stephen what comes across much more clearly is the mood that the filmshouldtake.” QUENTINFALK
Chéri, to be released in the UK on May 8, was originated on 35mm Fujicolor 35mm ETERNA 500T 8573, ETERNA 250T 8553 and ETERNA 400T 8583
Photo main previous page: Michelle Pfeiffer as Léa: main this page: Threesome in the Paris of 1906 and above, (left to right): DP Darius Khondji AFC ASC with Stephen Frears; Michelle Pfeiffer with Rupert Friend and the Wedding line-up
20 • EXPOSURE • THE MAGAZINE • FUJIFILM MOTION PICTURE