Dangerous Liaisons | |
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Directed by | Stephen Frears |
Screenplay by | Christopher Hampton |
Based on | Les Liaisons dangereuses 1782 epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos and Les liaisons dangereuses 1985 play by Christopher Hampton |
Produced by | |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Philippe Rousselot |
Edited by | Mick Audsley |
Music by | George Fenton |
Production companies |
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Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
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Running time | 119 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $14 million |
Box office | $34.7 million |
Dangerous Liaisons is a 1988 American period romantic drama film directed by Stephen Frears from a screenplay by Christopher Hampton, based on his 1985 play Les Liaisons dangereuses , itself adapted from the 1782 French novel of the same name by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. [1] It stars Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman, Swoosie Kurtz, Mildred Natwick, Peter Capaldi and Keanu Reeves.
Dangerous Liaisons was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 21, 1988. The film received widespread critical acclaim, with high praise for the performances by Close and Pfeiffer and the screenplay, production values, costumes and soundtrack. Grossing $34.7 million against its $14 million budget, it was a modest box-office success. It received seven nominations at the 61st Academy Awards, including for the Best Picture, and won three: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Production Design. [2]
In pre-Revolution Paris, the Marquise de Merteuil plots revenge against her ex-lover, the Comte de Bastide, who recently ended their relationship. To soothe her wounded pride and embarrass Bastide, she seeks to arrange the seduction and disgrace of his young virgin fiancée, Cécile de Volanges, who has only recently been presented to society after spending her formative years in the shelter of a convent.
Merteuil calls on the similarly unprincipled Vicomte de Valmont, another ex-lover of hers, to do the deed. Valmont declines as he is plotting to seduce Madame de Tourvel, the devoutly religious wife of a member of Parliament and a current guest of Valmont's aunt, Madame de Rosemonde. Amused and incredulous at Valmont's hubris, Merteuil ups the ante: if Valmont somehow succeeds in seducing Tourvel and can furnish written proof, Merteuil will sleep with him as well. Never one to refuse a challenge, Valmont accepts.
Tourvel rebuffs all of Valmont's advances. Searching for leverage, he instructs his page Azolan to seduce Tourvel's maid, Julie and gain access to Tourvel's private correspondence. One of the letters intercepted is from Cécile's mother and Merteuil's cousin, Madame de Volanges, warning Tourvel that Valmont is nefarious and untrustworthy. Valmont resolves to seduce Cécile as revenge for her mother's accurate denunciation of him.
At the opera, Cécile meets the charming and handsome Chevalier Raphael Danceny, who becomes her music teacher. They fall in love with coaxing from Merteuil, who knows that Danceny, as a nobleman of lesser rank, naive, young, and not particularly wealthy, can never qualify as a bona fide suitor.
Valmont gains access to Cécile's bedchamber on a pretext and sexually assaults her. As she pleads with him to leave, he blackmails her into giving up physical resistance, and the scene ends. On the pretext of illness, Cécile remains locked in her chambers, refusing all visitors. A concerned Madame de Volanges asks Merteuil to speak to Cécile; Cécile confides in Merteuil, naively assuming that she has Cécile's best interests at heart. Merteuil advises Cécile to welcome Valmont's advances; she says young women should take advantage of all the lovers they can acquire in a society so repressive and contemptuous of women. The result is a "student-teacher" relationship; by day, Cécile is courted by Danceny, and each night, she receives a sexual "lesson" from Valmont. Merteuil begins an affair with Danceny.
After a night in Valmont's bed, Cécile miscarries her child. Meanwhile, Valmont has won Tourvel's heart, but at a cost: the lifelong bachelor playboy falls in love. In a fit of jealousy, Merteuil mocks Valmont and refuses to honor her end of their agreement unless Valmont breaks up with Tourvel. Valmont abruptly dismisses Tourvel with a terse excuse: "It's beyond my control." Overwhelmed with grief and shame, Tourvel retreats to a monastery where her health deteriorates rapidly.
Despite the breakup, Merteuil still refuses to honor the agreement and even declares "war." She informs Danceny that Valmont has been sleeping with Cécile. Danceny challenges Valmont to a duel, ending with the latter voluntarily running into Danceny's sword. With his dying breath, Valmont asks Danceny to communicate to Tourvel his true feelings for her; he also warns Danceny about Meurteuil and gives him his collection of intimate letters from her as proof of the veracity of his warnings. Valmont tells Danceny to circulate them after he has read them.
After hearing Valmont's message from Danceny, Tourvel dies. Meanwhile, following Valmont's death, Merteuil sinks into madness and pain. Later, she attends a show at the opera but leaves after being booed by her former friends and sycophants, implying that all of Paris has learned the full range of her schemes and depredations due to Danceny's circulation of the letters.
Dangerous Liaisons was the first English-language film adaptation of Laclos's novel. The screenplay was based on Christopher Hampton's Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated theatrical adaptation for the Royal Shakespeare Company, [3] directed by Howard Davies and featuring Lindsay Duncan, Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson.
The film was shot entirely on location in the Île-de-France region of northern France, and featured historical buildings such as the Château de Vincennes in Val-de-Marne, the Château de Champs-sur-Marne, the Château de Guermantes in Seine-et-Marne, the Château du Saussay in Essonne, and the Théâtre Montansier in Versailles. [4] [5]
Liaisons was the final film appearance of Academy Award and Tony Award-nominated actress Mildred Natwick. [6] Drew Barrymore and Sarah Jessica Parker were considered for the role of Cécile before it went to Thurman. [7] Annette Bening went through several auditions for the role of the courtesan Émilie, but in the end the role went to Laura Benson. [8] Bening would go on to play the role of the Marquise de Merteuil in Miloš Forman's adaptation of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Valmont , a year later.
During production Malkovich had an affair with Pfeiffer. His six-year marriage to actress Glenne Headly ended shortly thereafter. [9] [10] [11]
Thurman later revealed that she stripped for this film because she thought it was the right choice at the time despite her immense nervousness, but she hated how "voyeuristic" the final cut of the scene was and resolved not to go naked in a movie again. [12]
The score of Dangerous Liaisons was written by the British film music composer George Fenton. The soundtrack also includes works by a number of baroque and classical composers, reflecting the story's 18th-Century-French setting; pieces by Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and Christoph Willibald Gluck feature prominently, although no French composers are included. [13]
Track | Song title | Composer |
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1 | Dangerous Liaisons Main Title/"Dressing" | George Fenton |
2 | "Madame De Tourvel" | George Fenton |
3 | "The Challenge" | George Fenton |
4 | "O malheureuse Iphigénie!", from Iphigénie en Tauride | Christoph Willibald Gluck |
5 | "Going Hunting" – "Allegro" from Organ Concerto No. 13, "The Cuckoo and the Nightingale" | George Frideric Handel, arr. George Fenton |
6 | "Valmont's First Move"/"The Staircase" | George Fenton |
7 | "Beneath The Surface" | George Fenton |
8 | "The Set Up" | George Fenton |
9 | "The Key" | George Fenton |
10 | "Her Eyes Are Closing" | George Fenton |
11 | "Ombra mai fu", from Serse | George Frideric Handel |
12 | "Tourvel's Flight" | George Fenton |
13 | "Success" | George Fenton |
14 | "Emilie" | George Fenton |
15 | "Beyond My Control" | George Fenton |
16 | "A Final Request" | George Fenton |
17 | "Ombra mai fu" reprise/"The Mirror" | George Frideric Handel/George Fenton |
18 | Dangerous Liaisons End Credits | George Fenton |
19 | "Allegro" from Concerto in A minor for four harpsichords, BWV 1065 | Johann Sebastian Bach |
Dangerous Liaisons holds a score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Stylish, seductive, and clever, Stephen Frears' adaptation is a wickedly entertaining exploration of sexual politics." [14] On Metacritic it has a score of 74 based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [15] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F. [16]
Pauline Kael in The New Yorker described it as "heaven – alive in a way that movies rarely are." [15] Hal Hinson in The Washington Post wrote that the film's "wit and immediacy is extraordinarily rare in a period film. Instead of making the action seem far off, the filmmakers put the audience in the room with their characters." [17] Roger Ebert called it "an absorbing and seductive movie, but not compelling." [18] Variety considered it an "incisive study of sex as an arena for manipulative power games." [19] Vincent Canby in The New York Times hailed it as a "kind of lethal drawing-room comedy." [20]
The Time Out reviewer wrote of Christopher Hampton's screenplay that "one of the film's enormous strengths is scriptwriter Christopher Hampton's decision to go back to the novel, and save only the best from his play". [21] James Acheson and Stuart Craig were also praised for their work, with Sheila Benson of the Los Angeles Times stating that "the film's details of costuming (by The Last Emperor's James Acheson) and production design (by Stuart Craig of Gandhi and The Mission ) are ravishing". [22] All three would go on to win Academy Awards for their work on this film.
Glenn Close received considerable praise for her performance; she was lauded by The New York Times for her "richness and comic delicacy," [20] while Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that, once she "finally lets loose and gives way to complete animal despair, Close is horrifying." [15] Roger Ebert thought the two lead roles were "played to perfection by Close and Malkovich... their arch dialogues together turn into exhausting conversational games, tennis matches of the soul." [18]
Michelle Pfeiffer was widely acclaimed for her portrayal, despite playing, in the opinion of The Washington Post, "the least obvious and the most difficult" role. "Nothing is harder to play than virtue, and Pfeiffer is smart enough not to try. Instead, she embodies it." [17] The New York Times called her performance a "happy surprise." [20] Roger Ebert, considering the trajectory of her career, wrote that "in a year that has seen her in varied assignments such as Married to the Mob and Tequila Sunrise , the movie is more evidence of her versatility. She is good when she is innocent and superb when she is guilty." [18] Pfeiffer would go on to win the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance.
The casting of John Malkovich proved to be a controversial decision that divided critics. The New York Times, while admitting there was the "shock of seeing him in powdered wigs", concluded that he was "unexpectedly fine. The intelligence and strength of the actor shape the audience's response to him". [20] The Washington Post was similarly impressed with Malkovich's performance: "There's a sublime perversity in Frears' casting, especially that of Malkovich... [he] brings a fascinating dimension to his character that would be missing with a more conventionally handsome leading man." [17] Variety was less impressed, stating that while the "sly actor conveys the character's snaky, premeditated Don Juanism... he lacks the devilish charm and seductiveness one senses Valmont would need to carry off all his conquests". [19]
Uma Thurman gained recognition from critics and audiences; [23] [24] film critic Roger Ebert found her to be "well cast" in her "tricky" key role. [18]
Almost 25 years after he played Valmont, John Malkovich directed a French-language version of Hampton's play in Paris, which ran at the Théâtre de l'Atelier. [34] [35] In December 2012, the production was brought to Lansburgh Theatre by the Shakespeare Theatre Company for a limited run in Washington, D.C. [36]
In 1989, the film Valmont was released starring Colin Firth, Annette Bening and Meg Tilly.
In 1999, the film Cruel Intentions set the same story in present-day America, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon.
In 2012, a Chinese version was released, starring Jang Dong-gun, Zhang Ziyi and Cecilia Cheung. It is loosely based on the novel itself and is set in 1930s Shanghai.
In 2018, the TV series The Great Seducer was released as a modern-day adaptation set in Korea starring Joy (singer), Moon Ga-young, Kim Min-jae (actor, born 1996) and Woo Do-hwan.
Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders parodied Dangerous Liaisons on their sketch show French & Saunders, which then inspired their 1999 comedy series Let Them Eat Cake .
In 2022, the series Dangerous Liaisons premiered on premium television provider Starz. According to writer Harriet Warner, the series is loosely inspired by the novel and explores the marquise's life before the events of the play. [37]
Uma Karuna Thurman is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 covers of British Vogue, Thurman starred in Dangerous Liaisons (1988). She rose to international prominence with her performance as Mia Wallace in Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actress. Often hailed as Tarantino's muse, she reunited with the director to play the main role in Kill Bill: Volume 1 and 2, which brought her a BAFTA Award nomination and two additional Golden Globe Award nominations.
Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American teen romantic drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble, and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film, set in New York City among rich high schoolers, is a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses.
John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, in addition to nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards.
Les Liaisons dangereuses is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782.
Sir Stephen Arthur Frears is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous accolades including three BAFTA Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards. In 2008, The Daily Telegraph named Frears among the 100 most influential people in British culture. In 2009, he received the Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. He received a knighthood in 2023 for his contributions to the film and television industries.
Untold Scandal is a 2003 South Korean romantic drama film directed by E J-yong, and starring Bae Yong-joon, Jeon Do-yeon, and Lee Mi-sook. Loosely based on the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, this adaptation takes place in late 18th century Korea, during the Joseon dynasty.
Sir Christopher James Hampton is a British playwright, screenwriter, translator and film director. He is best known for his play Les Liaisons Dangereuses based on the novel of the same name and the film adaptation. He has thrice received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay: for Dangerous Liaisons (1988), Atonement (2007) and The Father (2020); winning for the former and latter.
Les liaisons dangereuses is a 1959 French drama romance film loosely based on the 1782 novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, set in present-day France.
The Dangerous Liaisons is an opera in two acts and eight scenes, with music by Conrad Susa to an English libretto by Philip Littell. It is based on the 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The opera has set numbers with recitative and spoken dialog. It is set in France in the 18th century. The opera received its first performance by the San Francisco Opera on 10 September 1994, with stage direction by Colin Graham and Donald Runnicles as the conductor. The world-premiere cast included Thomas Hampson as Valmont, Frederica von Stade as Merteuil, David Hobson as Chevalier de Danceny, Renée Fleming as Tourvel and Mary Mills as Cécile de Volanges. The opera was performed at Washington Opera in March 1998. It was also aired on the American PBS television network's Great Performances, a video recording of which was also made. Albany Records released an audio recording of a performance by Manhattan School of Music Opera Theater in 2016.
Valmont is a 1989 romantic drama film directed by Miloš Forman and starring Colin Firth, Annette Bening, and Meg Tilly. Based on the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, and adapted for the screen by Jean-Claude Carrière, the film is about a scheming widow (Merteuil) who bets her ex-lover (Valmont) that he cannot corrupt a recently married honorable woman (Tourvel). During the process of seducing the married woman, Valmont ends up falling in love with her. Earlier, Merteuil learns her secret lover (Gercourt) has discarded her and is about to marry her cousin's daughter- the virginal 15 year old Cécile. As revenge, the jilted Merteuil employs Valmont to seduce Cécile before her marriage to Gercourt.
Lindsay Vere Duncan is a Scottish actress. She is the recipient of three BAFTA nominations and one Scottish BAFTA nomination, as well as two Olivier Awards and a Tony Award for her work on stage. She has starred in several plays by Harold Pinter. Duncan's film credits include Prick Up Your Ears (1987), The Reflecting Skin (1990), City Hall (1996), An Ideal Husband, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Mansfield Park, Under the Tuscan Sun, AfterLife, Starter for 10 (2006), Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (2010), About Time (2013), Birdman (2014), and Blackbird (2019).
Kathryn Merteuil is a fictional character who appears in Cruel Intentions and Cruel Intentions 2, portrayed by actresses Sarah Michelle Gellar and Amy Adams, respectively. Based on the Marquise de Merteuil in Pierre Choderlos de Laclos's 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, Kathryn serves as the primary antagonist of the series.
"Beyond My Control" is a 1991 song recorded by French singer-songwriter Mylène Farmer. It was the fourth single from her third studio album L'autre... and was released in May 1992. The song probably remains well known for its controversial music video, censored upon release due to its sexual and violent content. It achieved minor success in terms of sales, even though it reached the top ten in France and Belgium.
Les Liaisons dangereuses is a 1985 play by Christopher Hampton adapted from the 1782 novel of the same title by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The plot focuses on the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, rivals who use sex as a weapon of humiliation and degradation, all the while enjoying their cruel games. Their targets are the virtuous Madame de Tourvel and Cécile de Volanges, a young girl who has fallen in love with her music tutor, the Chevalier Danceny. In order to gain their trust, Merteuil and Valmont pretend to help the secret lovers so they can use them later in their own treacherous schemes.
Les Liaisons dangereuses is a 2003 French television mini-series directed by Josée Dayan starring Catherine Deneuve, Rupert Everett, Nastassja Kinski and Leelee Sobieski. It is based on the classic 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.
Le Méchant is a 1747 play by Jean-Baptiste-Louis Gresset. It is considered the best verse comedy of the eighteenth-century French stage.
Dangerous Liaisons is a 2012 Chinese period romance drama film by Hur Jin-ho loosely based on the 1782 novel with the same title by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The novel has been adapted numerous times, including Les Liaisons dangereuses, an adaptation by Roger Vadim (1959), the eponymous Hollywood film (1988), Valmont (1989), Cruel Intentions (1999), and Untold Scandal from South Korea (2003).
Dangerous Liaisons is an American period drama television series, based upon the novel of the same name by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. It premiered on Starz on November 6, 2022. Ahead of its premiere, the series was renewed for a second season. In December 2022, the series was canceled, reversing the early renewal. It was also reported that the executive producers were shopping the series elsewhere.
Cruel Intentions is an American television series developed by Phoebe Fisher and Sara Goodman, and produced by Original Film, Sony Pictures Television, and Amazon MGM Studios for Amazon Prime Video. Part of the franchise of the same name, it is based on the 1999 film by Roger Kumble, which in turn was a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos' 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses.