Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
A corrupt French countess, Isabelle de Marteille, lives by placing bets on the secret love life of the aristocracy and dominates in this way socially. One day, Marteille commissions her ex-lover, the promiscuous Valmont, to seduce the young lady he is about to marry. He does brilliantly by winning the bet. The unexpected arrival of the beautiful Madame de Tourville is seen as a challenge to Marteille who assigns Valmont to conquer her by offering him a night with her as the price.
I sat and watched it yesterday and I consider it my duty to recommend this movie for those who haven't seen it and those who want to see it again.
I am initially intrigued by the fact that there was a firestorm of reaction at the time it was released due to the provocativeness of Laclos' original work in the form of letters that even Marie Antoinette is said to have read.
Three Oscars for sets, costumes, adapted screenplay but none for the wonderful performances of Close, Malkovich, Pfeiffer, Thurman (also played by Keanu Reeves).
The film opens wide in our eyes the hypocrisy of aristocracy, the dark power of charm, the power of revenge, love, the inevitable road to destruction when people's relationships are fatally entangled and collide.
A wonderful script for awful people who operate in the background and poison the lives of others.
Pfeiffer is wonderful as the restrained puritan, Uma is amazing as a chaste virgin, I went crazy with Malkovich as the hypocrite charmer who plays the ladies like puppets but is also a puppet and is led to destruction but enjoys the ride. (how lucky to see him in Herodion).
I was shocked with Glenn Close who could have won an Oscar in any movie I've seen her in and she has none (scandal).
It's AMAZING (especially towards the end - I don't want to say too much for those who haven't seen it). De Merteig's poisonous touch leaves no one unscathed.
The film is not contemporary but unimaginably timeless. It is a film, which has the contradiction at the beginning of leaving you with the impression that you are relaxing as it develops and immerses you in the drama of its characters, who sacrifice the last drop of their happiness on the altar of their social power.
All this in the background of a corrupt society with glamorous toilets and aristocrats in the foreground, which helps to raise the film even higher and perhaps explains why it caused reactions. That's why we like it. Or rather for that.
Never heard of this movie but a cast of Malkovich, Pfeiffer, Thurman, and Reeves is enough to put this on my must-see list. I’m almost getting an Amadeus vibe from this trailer. They all look so young, I wonder what they think of the movie and their performances now.
Yes an A-List cast. A really good movie.
I don't know where I heard about this movie prior to today but I heard that it's a very interesting watch. your review just confirmed that too.
To think that this was produced in 1988, just awesome.
I must have watched this before I really knew Keanu Reeves, because I have no recollection of him being in it! 😆 I see from the trailer that Uma Thurman is too. I may have to rewatch it at some point, just to remind myself which characters they played.