Dangerous Liaisons (1988)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Stephen Frears

Writers (WGA):

Christopher Hampton (play)
Choderlos de Laclos (novel)

Release Date:

21 December 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Lust. Seduction. Revenge. The Game As You've Never Seen It Played Before.

Plot:

Rich and bored aristocrats in Rococo France play high-stakes games of passion and betrayal.

Plot Keywords:

France | Love | Passion | Betrayal | Corruption

Awards:

Won 3 Oscars. Another 12 wins & 14 nominations

Cast

Glenn Close	...	Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil
John Malkovich	...	Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont
Michelle Pfeiffer	...	Madame de Tourvel
Swoosie Kurtz	...	Madame de Volanges
Keanu Reeves	...	Le Chevalier Raphael Danceny
Mildred Natwick	...	Madame de Rosemonde
Uma Thurman	...	Cécile de Volanges
Peter Capaldi	...	Azolan
Joe Sheridan	...	Georges
Valerie Gogan	...	Julie
Laura Benson	...	Emilie
Joanna Pavlis	...	Adèle
Nicholas Hawtrey	...	Major-domo
Paulo Abel Do Nascimento	...	Castrato
François Lalande	...	Curé

Runtime:

119 min

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | France:Unrated | Australia:M | Argentina:18 | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Peru:18 | Singapore:M18 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Château de Champs-sur-Marne, Champs-sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, France

Company:

Lorimar Film Entertainment

Trivia:

Swoosie Kurtz, who plays Madame de Volange, went on to play Dr. Greenbaum in Cruel Intentions (1999), the modern retelling of Dangerous Liaisons. In both films, Valmont seduces her daughter.

Goofs:

Continuity: In one scene (in Mme de Rosemonde's garden), Valmont sits behind Mme de Tourvel and asks "Why are you so angry with me?" The camera then cuts to a close-up of Michelle Pfeiffer's face, and John Malkovich is sitting much closer behind her.

Quotes:

Vicomte de Valmont: I ended by falling on my knees and pledging her eternal love. And do you know that, at that time, and for several hours afterwards, I actually meant it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Friends: The One with the Embryos (#4.12)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

Concerto BWV 1065

In the game of seduction there is one rule - Never fell in love

Glenn Close, John Malcovich and Michelle Phieffer head an all star cast in this lavish tale of Sex, Deception and delicious wickedness. Beneath the heaving corsets of 18th century France there lies a world of lust and deportuary which this film reveals.

Glenn Close instructs her deviously seductive lover, John Malcovich to seduce the innocent Madame de Tourvelle (Michelle Pheiffer) a women renound for her religious beliefs, if he succeeds then she shall give him her body in one night of lust, but, one obstacle arises that she did not count on, the pair fall in love - thus beginning a battle of witts and seduction.

This is a must see movie for everyone as is its counterpart - Cruel Intentions, a modern reworking of Dangerous Liaisons