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.
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 16, 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.
Plot[]
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 wife of a member of Parliament away in Burgundy and a current houseguest of Valmont's aunt, Madame de Rosemonde. 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 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. Merteuil goes to the opera but she is booed by her former friends and sycophants, implying that all of Paris have learned the full range of Merteuil's schemes and depredations due to Danceny's circulation of the letters. Merteuil flees in disgrace.
Cast[]
- Glenn Close as Marquise de Merteuil
- John Malkovich as Vicomte de Valmont
- Michelle Pfeiffer as Madame de Tourvel
- Uma Thurman as Cécile de Volanges
- Swoosie Kurtz as Madame de Volanges, mother of Cécile and cousin to Merteuil
- Keanu Reeves as Le Chevalier Danceny, suitor to Cécile
- Mildred Natwick as Madame de Rosemonde, Valmont's aunt
- Peter Capaldi as Azolan, Valmont's valet
- Valerie Gogan as Julie, Madame de Tourvel's chambermaid
- Laura Benson as Émilie, a courtesan
- Joe Sheridan as Georges, Madame de Tourvel's footman
- Joanna Pavlis as Adèle, Madame de Rosemonde's maid
- Harry Jones as Monsieur Armand
- François Montagut as Belleroche, Merteuil's lover
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. In December 2012, the production was brought to Lansburgh Theatre by the Shakespeare Theatre Company for a limited run in Washington, D.C.
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.
External links[]
Dangerous Liaisons at IMDb- Dangerous Liaisons at AllMovieScript error: No such module "EditAtWikidata".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
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Dangerous Liaisons at the American Film Institute CatalogScript error: No such module "EditAtWikidata".
Dangerous Liaisons (1988) at Box Office Mojo
Dangerous Liaisons at Rotten Tomatoes- Interview with Uma Thurman about Dangerous Liaisons at Texas Archive of the Moving Image