Cheri (2009)

What a surprise this film was. It was tragic and moving and just so full of love and heartbreak and yet I know it's not for everyone.

The relationship at the center of the film is between Cheri, the hedonistic son of an aging courtesan, and Lea, the still lovely but also aging courtesan who agrees help train her friend's son. Cheri moves onto Lea's estate and they fall into an easy and, eventually, very loving relationship that lasts six years.

But Cheri was always meant to move on even though it has become glaringly obvious to the viewer that he must stay. The two, despite the many years in age difference, are undeniably soul mates, but their separation makes it clear to the two that they are also undeniably incompatible. Sometimes circumstances simply will not allow what absolutely should be -- and this film made me feel the injustice of that truth.

A-