I think this commentary does not do justice to the complexity of the tale.
Cheri's courtesan mother was loving and cheerful? She was no more fit to be a mother than my arm is for the wing of an airplane. Cheri was orphaned from the beginning because of his mother's profession as well as the usual self-preoccupation of such great beauties. When she saw fit, she arranged a loveless and mercenary marriage for him. The withering realism of this tale about the egotism and cruelty in almost all human relationships is only masked and made palatable by the sparkling wit it is mixed with.
The movie is by no means perfect, but there is a lot to explore. I would not write off Colette and Pfeiffer without attending with a bit more care.
Cheri's courtesan mother was loving and cheerful? She was no more fit to be a mother than my arm is for the wing of an airplane. Cheri was orphaned from the beginning because of his mother's profession as well as the usual self-preoccupation of such great beauties. When she saw fit, she arranged a loveless and mercenary marriage for him. The withering realism of this tale about the egotism and cruelty in almost all human relationships is only masked and made palatable by the sparkling wit it is mixed with.
The movie is by no means perfect, but there is a lot to explore. I would not write off Colette and Pfeiffer without attending with a bit more care.