Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writers (WGA):

Christopher Hampton (play)
Choderlos de Laclos (novel)

Release Date:

21 December 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Lust. Seduction. Revenge. The Game As You've Never Seen It Played Before.

Plot:

Rich and bored aristocrats in Rococo France play high-stakes games of passion and betrayal.

Plot Keywords:

France | Corruption | Love | Betrayal | Passion

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Glenn Close	...	Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil
John Malkovich	...	Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Madame de Tourvel
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Madame de Volanges
Keanu Reeves	...	Le Chevalier Raphael Danceny
Mildred Natwick	...	Madame de Rosemonde
Uma Thurman	...	Cécile de Volanges
Peter Capaldi	...	Azolan
Joe Sheridan	...	Georges
Valerie Gogan	...	Julie
Laura Benson	...	Emilie
Joanna Pavlis	...	Adèle
Nicholas Hawtrey	...	Major-domo
Paulo Abel Do Nascimento	...	Castrato
François Lalande	...	Curé

Also Known As:

Ligações Perigosas (Brazil) (Portugal) [pt]
Relaciones peligrosas (Argentina) (Chile) [es]
Epikindynes sheseis (Greece) [el]
Farlige forbindelser (Denmark) [da]
Farligt begär (Sweden) [sv]
Gefährliche Liebschaften (West Germany) [de]
Las amistades peligrosas (Spain) [es]
Le relazioni pericolose (Italy) [it]
Les amistats perilloses (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Les liaisons dangereuses (France) [fr]
Niebezpieczne zwiazki (Poland) [pl]
Tehlikeli iliskiler (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Valheet ja viettelijät (Finland) [fi]
Veszedelmes viszonyok (Hungary) [hu]

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | France:Unrated | Australia:M | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Peru:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Château de Champs-sur-Marne, Champs-sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, France

Company:

Lorimar Film Entertainment

Trivia:

The young Drew Barrymore was tested for and came close to getting the role of Cécile.

Goofs:

Continuity: In one scene (in Mme de Rosemonde's garden), Valmont sits behind Mme de Tourvel and asks "Why are you so angry with me?" The camera then cuts to a close-up of Michelle Pfeiffer's face, and John Malkovich is sitting much closer behind her.

Quotes:

Marquise de Merteuil: Like most intellectuals, he's intensely stupid.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "What I Like About You: Dangerous Liaisons (#3.17)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Organ Concerto No. 13 in F.

Sexual decadence before the fall of the guillotine

This is a tale about the ancien régime in 18th century France before the revolution in which the moral decadence of the privileged classes rivaled that of Sodom and Gomorrah and the ancient Romans. The story comes from a novel by Choderlos de Laclos that was made into a stage play by Christopher Hampton. It is a cynical satire on human sexuality as well as a very subtle examination of sexual hypocrisy and desire, a kind of oh so sophisticated laugh at bourgeois morality that would have delighted Voltaire and Moliere and greatly amused Shakespeare. It is a tale of elaborate lechery and revenge that backfires because it seems that anybody, even the most jagged rake can fall in love, and thereby become the victim.

John Malkovich plays the rake, Vicomte de Valmont, whose sole purpose in life is to seduce women, rob them of their virtue and then move on. Glenn Close plays his back-stabbing confidante and one-time lover, the Marquise de Merteuil. Michelle Pfeiffer plays the coy and virtuous Madame de Tourvel, who is to be Valmont's latest conquest. Uma Thurman is cast as a teenaged ingenue who is betrothed to Merteuil's lover while Keanu Reeves plays her naive music teacher and would be lover, Chevalier Danceny. Stephen Frears, who has directed such diverse films as The Grifters (1990) and My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), after a somewhat cryptic start, does an excellent job of bringing the biting cynicism of Laclos and Hampton to the screen.

I know of two other versions of this film, Milos Forman's Valmont (1989), starring Colin Firth and Annette Bening, and Roger Vadim's Dangerous Liaisons (1960). Regrettably , I haven't seen Vadim's film, but Forman's Valmont is excellent. In polite society comparisons are said to be odious. I shall proceed anyway:

John Malkovich vs. Colin Firth. Malkovich is widely recognized as a great actor, but he is clearly miscast in this role, yet he brings a predatory dimension to the part that is in keeping with the overall psychology of the movie. Firth, while not as celebrated for his acting skills as Malkovich, is nonetheless a fine actor, and his charm and playful inventiveness are more in keeping with the character of Valmont, whom women love. Call it even.

Glenn Close vs. Annette Bening. Again Close is considered the more accomplished actor, but Bening is sexier, prettier and considerably more charming. Whether that is a plus as far as the reality of the novel and play are concerned is debatable. For my part I found Bening a lot more fun to watch. Edge to Bening.

Michelle Pfeiffer vs. Meg Tilly. Pfeiffer is a much bigger star and has more experience as an actress. She is beautiful, but Tilly is more passionate. Pfeiffer was nominated for an academy award for best supporting actress for her work, but did not win. Personally I thought Tilly was more believable and was especially effective in projecting first the repressed passion and then the complete abandonment as she gives herself to Valmont. Pfeiffer's portrayal of Tourvel's coy awakening, with just a hint of duplicity, and then her utter dissolution when he leaves her, was star quality. Edge to Pfeiffer.

Uma Thurman vs. Fairuza Balk. I loved them both. Thurman, of course, is a more statuesque beauty with a polished and controlled acting style, but Balk's wide-eyed innocence was a delight. Call it even.

Keanu Reeves vs. Henry Thomas. Thomas was cute, but almost too juvenile to be believed. Reeves seemed just right for the part. Clear edge to Reeves.

Frears vs. Forman. Frears's direction was more cynical, especially in the duel between Valmont and Merteuil in which their mutual and complementary debauchery is in sharp focus. And his resolution was more clearly defined. Forman's strength was in the delight and playfulness of many of the scenes, especially those relating to the seduction of Tourvel. His direction was more comedic and he allowed a greater development of secondary characters, while Frears concentrated more on the two leads. I give a very small edge to Forman, but would not argue with those preferring Frears.

Bottom line: I liked Forman's movie better, but the voters at IMDb.com preferred Frears's Dangerous Liaisons, giving it an average of 7.7 stars out of ten to 6.7 for Valmont.

Some bon mots:

Valmont tells Madame de Tourvel as he dumps her, "My love had great difficulty outlasting your virtue. It's beyond my control."

Valmont demands that the Marquise de Merteuil reply to his proposal of a night together, will it be love of war? He says, "A single word is all that is required." Long pause, and then she gives him three, "All right. [Pause. Cut to satisfied smile on Valmont's face.] War."

When Valmont returns from making love to Madame de Tourvel he reveals to Merteuil that for the first time he may be in love. He relates his feelings to her, "I love her. I hate her..." The camera turns to Close, who yawns.

Valmont's aunt while consoling Madame de Tourvel, who has confessed that she is in love with Valmont and can't help herself, says, reflecting the wisdom of all who have been there, "In such matters all advice is useless."

Toward the end, Valmont says, "I have no illusions. I lost them on my travels."