- Dangerous Liaisons
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For other uses, see Dangerous Liaisons (disambiguation).
Dangerous Liaisons 
Directed by Stephen Frears Produced by Norma Heyman
Hank MoonjeanWritten by Christopher Hampton Starring Glenn Close
John Malkovich
Michelle PfeifferMusic by George Fenton Cinematography Philippe Rousselot Editing by Mick Audsley Distributed by Warner Bros. Release date(s) December 16, 1988 Running time 119 minutes Country United States Language English Budget US$14 million Box office $34,700,000 (USA) Dangerous Liaisons is a 1988 drama film based upon Christopher Hampton's play, Les liaisons dangereuses, which in turn was a theatrical adaptation of the 18th-century French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos.
Director Stephen Frears, having enjoyed successes in British cinema with My Beautiful Laundrette (1985), Prick Up Your Ears (1987) and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987), made his Hollywood début with this film.[1]
The performances of Glenn Close, John Malkovich and Michelle Pfeiffer, the cinematography of Philippe Rousselot, the costume design by James Acheson, and in particular the screenplay by Christopher Hampton, garnered considerable critical acclaim.
Swoosie Kurtz and Mildred Natwick (in her final film) appeared in supporting roles, as did young relatively unknown actors Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman, both of whom would go on to achieve fame in the 1990s, with starring roles in Speed (1994) and Pulp Fiction (1994) respectively.
The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including "Best Picture"; it won those for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Art Direction.[2][3]
Contents
Plot
The Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) calls on her partner, the Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich), to seduce Cécile de Volanges (Uma Thurman), the young daughter of Merteuil's cousin, Madame de Volanges (Swoosie Kurtz). By this, Merteuil hopes to have revenge on a former lover, the man to whom Cécile is promised in marriage. At first, Valmont refuses her proposition; he wants to seduce the virtuous Madame de Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer), who is spending time at his aunt's house while her husband is abroad.
Upon discovering that Madame de Volanges had been secretly writing to Madame de Tourvel to warn her against his evil nature, Valmont changes his mind and decides to follow Merteuil's scheme. They take advantage of the fact that young Cécile is in love with her music teacher, the Chevalier Raphael Danceny (Keanu Reeves), who is penniless and therefore does not qualify in the eyes of her mother as a potential suitor.
At his aunt's, Valmont tricks Cécile into providing access to her bedchamber, where he rapes her as she pleads with him to leave. Over breakfast the next morning, he taunts a visibly distressed Cécile, and she runs from the room in tears. Later that night, he attempts to enter her room again, but she has barred her door and is seen sobbing within her chamber. Madame de Volanges, distraught by her daughter's sudden state of illness, calls upon Merteuil to speak to Cécile. Merteuil advises Cécile to consensually continue an affair with Valmont, telling her she should take advantage of all the lovers she can acquire in a life so constricted by her gender. Cécile takes her advice and later becomes pregnant with Valmont's child, but suffers a miscarriage, thus avoiding a scandal. Valmont meanwhile steadily targets his main prey, Madame de Tourvel, who, despite realizing his motives, eventually gives in to his tireless advances. However, Valmont, the lifelong womanizer, has fallen in love with Tourvel.
Merteuil had promised Valmont a night in her company should he be successful. Nevertheless, secretly jealous of Tourvel, she refuses to grant Valmont his prize unless he breaks off with Tourvel completely, and threatens to ruin his reputation as a debaucher. Valmont heeds her request and leaves Tourvel, who falls desperately ill. Valmont goes back to Merteuil, who in the meantime has taken Chevalier Danceny as her lover, and demands the immediate fulfillment of her promise. The Marquise refuses, and they declare war.
The Marquise reveals to Danceny that Valmont had seduced Cécile. Danceny and Valmont duel and, guilty and despairing, Valmont allows Danceny to fatally wound him. Before he dies, he asks Danceny to visit Tourvel and assure her of his love, and hands him a collection of letters from Merteuil. After hearing Valmont's message from Danceny, Madame de Tourvel dies. Danceny publishes Merteuil's letters, and she is booed and disgraced by the audience at the opera. Merteuil's face is permanently disfigured due to illness in the ending, though this is not readily apparent in the film version.
Cast
- Glenn Close as Marquise de Merteuil: a member of the French nobility, the Marquise has been forced to comply with the social rules of her gender at that time. Strong-willed and ambitious, she has grown spiteful from consistently being forced to "keep quiet and do as told" by the male gender, and so she has made it her business to do whatever she could to dominate the male species, and avenge her own. She is portrayed as a cunning, manipulative and immoral woman, who uses her beauty and extraordinary intelligence to both maintain her position on the French social hierarchy, but also to avenge herself on anyone who has wronged her in the past. Her malevolent, libertine nature, however, is kept well hidden from most people, as she created a façade of moral righteousness which makes her look as a virtuous and puritan woman to almost everyone on her entourage.
- John Malkovich as Vicomte de Valmont: an arrogant, suave and extremely manipulative sexual predator, the Vicomte takes advantage of the social limitations of the female gender at the time to benefit himself as much as possible. Cynical, convincing, attractive and powerful, the Vitcomte uses his position to get anything (or anyone) he wants. As he begins genuinely to fall in love with Madame de Tourvel, a softer, more caring side of him is revealed. However, the Marquise de Merteuil's tight grip over him causes him to abandon that small inkling of morality and betray the one woman he loved, eventually leading to his demise.
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Madame de Tourvel
- Swoosie Kurtz as Madame de Volanges
- Keanu Reeves as Le Chevalier Raphael Danceny
- Mildred Natwick as Madame de Rosemonde
- Uma Thurman as Cécile de Volanges
- Peter Capaldi as Azolan
Production
Dangerous Liaisons was the first English-language film adaptation of Laclos's novel, and was based on Christopher Hampton's Olivier Award-winning and Tony Award-nominated theatrical adaptation for the Royal Shakespeare Company,[4] directed by Howard Davies and featuring Lindsay Duncan, Alan Rickman and Juliet Stevenson.
The film was shot entirely on location in France, specifically in the région of Île-de-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.[5]
The original score was written by George Fenton, while the soundtrack included baroque and classical works by Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel and Christoph Willibald Gluck.[6]
This was the final film appearance of Academy Award- and Tony Award-nominated actress Mildred Natwick, who played the role of Madame de Rosemonde.[7]
Drew Barrymore auditioned for the role of Cécile, and Sarah Jessica Parker actually turned the role down, before it eventually went to Uma Thurman.[7]
Reception
Dangerous Liaisons holds a score of 93% on Rotten Tomatoes,[8] and a score of 74 on Metacritic,[9] indicating a positive critical reception.
Pauline Kael in The New Yorker described it as "heaven – alive in a way that movies rarely are."[9] 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."[10] Roger Ebert called it "an absorbing and seductive movie."[11] Variety considered it an "incisive study of sex as an arena for manipulative power games."[12] Vincent Canby in the New York Times hailed it as a "kind of lethal drawing-room comedy."[13]
Christopher Hampton received critical acclaim for his screenplay, with Time Out writing 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."[14] 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."[9] All three would go on to win Academy Awards for their contributions to this film.
Glenn Close received considerable praise for her performance; she was lauded by the New York Times for her "richness and comic delicacy,"[13] 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."[9] 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."[11]
Michelle Pfeiffer was also 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."[10] The New York Times called her performance a "happy surprise."[13] 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."[11] Pfeiffer would later win a British Academy Film Award 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."[13] 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."[10] 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."[12]
Awards and nominations
Dangerous Liaisons won three Academy Awards out of seven nominations, for Best Adapted Screenplay (Christopher Hampton), Best Costume Design (James Acheson), and Best Art Direction (Stuart Craig and Gérard James). Its four unsuccessful nominations were for Best Actress (Glenn Close), Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Pfeiffer), Best Original Score (George Fenton), and the Academy Award for Best Picture.[3] Director Stephen Frears and lead actor John Malkovich were not nominated.
Michelle Pfeiffer won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Christopher Hampton won the BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay. The film received a further eight nominations, in the categories of Best Direction (Stephen Frears), Best Actress in a Leading Role (Close), Best Cinematography (Philippe Rousselot), Best Costume Design (Acheson), Best Original Film Score (Fenton), Best Editing (Mick Audsley), Best Make Up Artist (Jean-Luc Russier) and Best Production Design (Craig).[3]
In addition to his Oscar and BAFTA awards, Christopher Hampton also won the London Critics Circle Film Award for Screenwriter of the Year, and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.[3]
Stephen Frears won the César Award for Best Foreign Film for Dangerous Liaisons.[3]
Philippe Rousselot was nominated for both the American Society of Cinematographers Award and the British Society of Cinematographers Award.[3]
Other adaptations
- Les Liaisons dangereuses (1959), Roger Vadim's French adaptation of the same novel, starring Jeanne Moreau, Gérard Philipe and Annette Vadim
- Valmont (1989), Miloš Forman's adaptation of the same novel, starring Annette Bening, Colin Firth and Meg Tilly
- Cruel Intentions (1999), a modernized adaptation of the story that featured Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Philippe and Reese Witherspoon
- Untold Scandal (2003), a Korean adaptation directed by Je-yong Lee
References
- ^ "Stephen Frears". theauteurs.com. http://www.theauteurs.com/cast_members/11229. Retrieved 2009-11-09.
- ^ "The 61st Academy Awards (1989) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/61st-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-07-31.
- ^ a b c d e f "Dangerous Liaisons (1988) - Awards". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094947/awards. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ "Olivier Winners 1986 - The Official London Theatre Guide". officiallondontheatre.co.uk. http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/olivier_awards/view/item98521/Olivier-Winners-1986/. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ "Dangerous Liaisons (1988) - Filming locations". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094947/locations. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ "Dangerous Liaisons (1988) - Soundtracks". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094947/soundtrack. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ a b "Dangerous Liaisons (1988) - Trivia". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094947/trivia. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ "Dangerous Liaisons Movie Reviews, Pictures". rottentomatoes.com. http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/1005199-dangerous_liaisons/. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ a b c d "Dangerous Liaisons reviews at Metacritic.com". metacritic.com. http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/dangerousliaisons. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ a b c Hinson, Hal (January 13, 1989). "'Dangerous Liaisons'". washingtonpost.com. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/dangerousliaisonsrhinson_a0a8d4.htm.
- ^ a b c Ebert, Roger (January 13, 1989). "Dangerous Liaisons :: rogerebert.com :: Reviews". rogerebert.suntimes.com. http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19890113/REVIEWS/901130302/1023.
- ^ a b "Dangerous Liaisons Review". variety.com. 1988-01-01. http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=review&reviewid=VE1117790228&categoryid=31&query=dangerous+liaisons&display=dangerous+liaisons&cs=1. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
- ^ a b c d Canby, Vincent (December 21, 1988). "Movie Review - Dangerous Liaisons - Review/Film; Passion in the Ancien Régime". nytimes.com. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=940DE5DE103DF932A15751C1A96E948260.
- ^ "Dangerous Liaisons Review - Film - Time Out London". timeout.com. http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/64930/dangerous_liaisons.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
External links
- Dangerous Liaisons at the Internet Movie Database
- Dangerous Liaisons at AllRovi
- Dangerous Liaisons at Rotten Tomatoes
Films directed by Stephen Frears 1970s 1980s Walter and June (1983) · December Flower (1984) · The Hit (1984) · My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) · Prick Up Your Ears (1987) · Mr Jolly Lives Next Door (1987) · Sammy and Rosie Get Laid (1987) · Dangerous Liaisons (1988)1990s The Grifters (1990) · Hero (1992) · The Snapper (1993) · Mary Reilly (1996) · The Van (1996) · The Hi-Lo Country (1998)2000s High Fidelity (2000) · Liam (2000) · Fail Safe (2000) · Dirty Pretty Things (2002) · The Deal (2003) · Mrs Henderson Presents (2005) · The Queen (2006) · Cheri (2009)2010s Tamara Drewe (2010) · Lay the Favorite (2012)Categories:- American films
- English-language films
- 1988 films
- 1980s drama films
- American romantic drama films
- Films based on French novels
- Films based on works by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
- Films based on plays
- Films directed by Stephen Frears
- Films set in France
- Films set in the 18th century
- Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award
- Films whose writer won the Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award
- Warner Bros. films
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