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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
Theatrical release poster
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 1987 play by Christopher Hampton
Produced by	Norma Heyman Hank Moonjean
Starring	Glenn Close John Malkovich Michelle Pfeiffer Uma Thurman Swoosie Kurtz Keanu Reeves Mildred Natwick
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Edited by	Mick Audsley
Music by	George Fenton
Production companies	Lorimar Film Entertainment NFH Limited
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date	December 16, 1988 (1988-12-16) (United States)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$14 million
Box office	$34.7 million

Dangerous Liaisons was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures on December 16, 1988. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for the performances by Close and Pfeiffer and the screenplay, production values and costumes. 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][3]

Plot

In pre-Revolution Paris, the Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) 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 (Uma Thurman), 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 (John Malkovich), another ex-lover of hers, to do the deed. Valmont declines, as he is plotting to seduce Madame de Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer), the wife of a member of Parliament away in Burgundy and a current houseguest of Valmont's aunt, Madame de Rosemonde (Mildred Natwick). Amused and incredulous at Valmont's hubris in pursuing the chaste, devoutly religious Tourvel, 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 a nefarious and untrustworthy individual. Valmont resolves to seduce Cécile as revenge for her mother's accurate denunciation of him.

Meanwhile, in Paris, Cécile meets the charming and handsome Chevalier Raphael Danceny (Keanu Reeves), who becomes her music teacher. They fall in love with coaxing from Merteuil, who knows that Danceny, a poor commoner, can never qualify as a bona fide suitor.

Valmont gains access to Cécile's bedchamber on a pretense, sexually assaults her, and blackmails her into sex as she pleads with him to leave. 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. In the meantime, Merteuil begins an affair with Danceny.

Meanwhile, Valmont manages to win Tourvel's heart, but at a cost: the lifelong bachelor playboy falls in love. In a fit of jealousy, Merteuil mocks Valmont and threatens to trash his reputation as a carefree gigolo. She also refuses to honor her end of their agreement since Valmont has no written proof that the relationship has been consummated. Valmont abruptly dismisses Tourvel with a terse excuse: "It is beyond my control." Meanwhile, after a night in Valmont's bed, Cécile miscarries his child.

Overwhelmed with grief and shame, Tourvel retreats to a monastery where her health deteriorates rapidly. Valmont warns Danceny of Merteuil's ulterior motives in seducing him; she retaliates by informing Danceny that Valmont has been sleeping with Cécile. Danceny challenges Valmont to a duel ending with Valmont voluntarily running into Danceny's sword. With his dying breath, Valmont asks Danceny to communicate to Tourvel—by now near death—his true feelings for her. He also gives Danceny his collection of intimate letters from Merteuil, and Danceny publishes them, while Cécile informs her mother of her intention to return permanently to the convent. All of Paris learns the full range of Merteuil's schemes and depredations. Booed and humiliated at the opéra by her former friends and sycophants, Merteuil flees in disgrace.

Cast

Production

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,[4] 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.[5]

Liaisons was the final film appearance of Academy Award and Tony Award-nominated actress Mildred Natwick.[6]^{[unreliable source?]} Drew Barrymore auditioned for the role of Cécile, and Sarah Jessica Parker turned it down before it was offered to Thurman.[6] Annette Bening went through several auditions for the role of the courtesan Émilie, but in the end the role went to Laura Benson.[7] 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.[8][9][10]

Uma Thurman revealed she was really nervous about stripping for this film but agreed because she felt it was the right thing to do at the time. But she also said she was horrified by the "voyeuristic" way the scene appeared in the final cut of the movie.[11]

Soundtrack

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.[12]

Track	Song title	Composer
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

Reception

Critical response

Dangerous Liaisons holds a score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 31 reviews.[13] On Metacritic it has a score of 74 based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[14] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.[15]

Pauline Kael in The New Yorker described it as "heaven – alive in a way that movies rarely are."[14] 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."[16] Roger Ebert called it "an absorbing and seductive movie, but not compelling."[17] Variety considered it an "incisive study of sex as an arena for manipulative power games."[18] Vincent Canby in The New York Times hailed it as a "kind of lethal drawing-room comedy."[19]

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".[20] 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".[21] 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,"[19] 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."[14] 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."[17]

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."[16] The New York Times called her performance a "happy surprise."[19] 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."[17] 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".[19] 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."[16] 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".[18]

Uma Thurman gained recognition from critics and audiences;[22][23] film critic Roger Ebert found her to be "well cast" in her "tricky" key role.[24] At the time, insecure about her appearance, she spent roughly a year in London, during which she often wore loose, baggy clothing.[25] Malkovich said of her, "There is nothing twitchy teenager-ish about her, I haven't met anyone like her at that age. Her intelligence and poise stand out. But there's something else. She's more than a little haunted."[26]

Accolades

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
Academy Awards[27]	Best Picture	Norma Heyman and Hank Moonjean	Nominated
	Best Actress	Glenn Close	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Michelle Pfeiffer	Nominated
	Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium	Christopher Hampton	Won
	Best Art Direction	Stuart Craig and Gérard James	Won
	Best Costume Design	James Acheson	Won
	Best Original Score	George Fenton	Nominated
American Society of Cinematographers Awards[28]	Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases	Philippe Rousselot	Nominated
ASECAN Awards	Best Foreign Film	Stephen Frears	Won
Association of Polish Filmmakers Critics Awards	Best Foreign Film		Won
Bodil Awards	Best Non-European Film		Won
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards[29]	Best Director		Won
British Academy Film Awards[30]	Best Direction		Nominated
	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Glenn Close	Nominated
	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Michelle Pfeiffer	Won
	Best Adapted Screenplay	Christopher Hampton	Won
	Best Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot	Nominated
	Best Costume Design	James Acheson	Nominated
	Best Editing	Mick Audsley	Nominated
	Best Make Up Artist	Jean-Luc Russier	Nominated
	Best Original Film Score	George Fenton	Nominated
	Best Production Design	Stuart Craig	Nominated
British Society of Cinematographers[31]	Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film	Philippe Rousselot	Nominated
César Awards[32]	Best Foreign Film	Stephen Frears	Won
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards[33]	Best Actress	Glenn Close	Nominated
	Best Supporting Actress	Michelle Pfeiffer	Nominated
David di Donatello Awards	Best Foreign Actor	John Malkovich	Nominated
Fotogramas de Plata	Best Foreign Film	Stephen Frears	Won
Goldene Kamera	Best International Actress	Glenn Close	Won
Guild of German Art House Cinemas Awards	Best Foreign Film (Gold Award)	Stephen Frears	Won
Joseph Plateau Awards	Best Foreign Film		Won
London Critics Circle Film Awards	Screenwriter of the Year	Christopher Hampton	Won
Nastro d'Argento	Best Foreign Director	Stephen Frears	Nominated
National Board of Review Awards[34]	Top Ten Films		2nd Place
National Society of Film Critics Awards[35]	Best Supporting Actress	Michelle Pfeiffer	3rd Place
	Best Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot	3rd Place
Sant Jordi Awards	Best Foreign Film	Stephen Frears	Won
	Best Foreign Film (Audience Award)		Won
	Best Foreign Actor	John Malkovich (also for Death of a Salesman and The Glass Menagerie)	Won
SESC Film Festival	Best Foreign Film	Stephen Frears	Won
Turkish Film Critics Association Awards	Best Foreign Film		9th Place
Writers Guild of America Awards[36]	Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium	Christopher Hampton	Won

Related adaptations

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.[37][38] In December 2012, the production was brought to Lansburgh Theatre by the Shakespeare Theatre Company for a limited run in Washington, D.C.[39]

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.

References

External links

• Dangerous Liaisons at IMDb
• Dangerous Liaisons at AllMovie
• Dangerous Liaisons at the TCM Movie Database
• Dangerous Liaisons at the American Film Institute Catalog
• Dangerous Liaisons at Box Office Mojo
• Dangerous Liaisons at Rotten Tomatoes

На других языках

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[de] Gefährliche Liebschaften (1988)

Gefährliche Liebschaften (Originaltitel: Dangerous Liaisons) ist ein britisch-US-amerikanisches Filmdrama aus dem Jahr 1988. Unter der Regie von Stephen Frears sind Glenn Close, John Malkovich und Michelle Pfeiffer in den Hauptrollen zu sehen. Als Vorlage für den Film über verhängnisvolle Affären und Intrigen des französischen Adels während des 18. Jahrhunderts diente das Bühnenstück Les Liaisons Dangereuses von Christopher Hampton, das wiederum auf dem gleichnamigen Briefroman von Choderlos de Laclos beruht. Der Film wurde am 16. Dezember 1988 uraufgeführt und war 1989 für sieben Oscars nominiert, von denen er drei für das Drehbuch, die Kostüme und das Szenenbild gewinnen konnte.

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- [en] Dangerous Liaisons

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[it] Le relazioni pericolose (film 1988)

Le relazioni pericolose (Dangerous Liaisons) è un film del 1988, diretto da Stephen Frears, tratto dal romanzo Le relazioni pericolose di Choderlos de Laclos e dall'adattamento teatrale del romanzo ad opera di Christopher Hampton, sceneggiatore del film.

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[ru] Опасные связи (фильм, 1988)

«Опа́сные свя́зи» (англ. Dangerous Liaisons) — кинофильм британского режиссёра Стивена Фрирза, снятый для Голливуда. Экранизация пьесы Кристофера Хэмптона, написанной по мотивам одноимённого романа Шодерло де Лакло (1782). Фильм вышел на киноэкраны в 1988 году, почти в одно время с другой экранизацией того же романа. Лента была восторженно встречена кинокритиками и сделала «звёздами» молодых актёров Киану Ривза и Уму Турман.

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