Valmont (1989)

Set in Baroque France, a scheming widow and her lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman. The lover, Valmont, bets that he can seduce her, even though she is an... See full summary »

Director:

Milos Forman

Writers:

Choderlos de Laclos (novel), Jean-Claude Carrière,

Stars:

Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Colin Firth	...	Valmont
Annette Bening	...	Merteuil
Meg Tilly	...	Madame de Tourvel
Fairuza Balk	...	Cecile
Siân Phillips	...	Madame de Volanges (as Sian Phillips)
Jeffrey Jones	...	Gercourt
Henry Thomas	...	Danceny
Fabia Drake	...	Madame de Rosemonde
T.P. McKenna	...	Baron
Isla Blair	...	Baroness
Ian McNeice	...	Azolan
Aleta Mitchell	...	Victoire
Ronald Lacey	...	José
Vincent Schiavelli	...	Jean
Sandrine Dumas	...	Martine

Storyline

Set in Baroque France, a scheming widow and her lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman. The lover, Valmont, bets that he can seduce her, even though she is an honorable woman. If he wins, he can have his lover to do as he will. However, in the process of seducing the married woman, Valmont falls in love. Based on the same novel as "Dangerous Liaisons."

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Plot Keywords:

lover | bet | france | widow | love | 

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ha-Peetooim Ha-Assurim Shel Velmont

Filming Locations:

Abbaye aux Hommes, Caen, Calvados, France

Box Office

Budget:

$33,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$1,132,112 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Renn Productions, Timothy Burrill Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

137 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Wil Wheaton was originally chosen to play Danceny, but the producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation would not release him from his commitments, and the role went to Henry Thomas.

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Goofs

In bed, talking to her lover, Madame's legs change position from one shot to the next.

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Quotes

Madame de Volanges: Cecile! Martine!
Martine: Yes, Madame?
Madame de Volanges: Where is Cecile?
Martine: [nervously] Cecile? She's... she has...
Madame de Volanges: Where is she? Have you been at your post all night?
Martine: Yes, madame.
Madame de Volanges: Has anyone come in?
Martine: No, Madame.
Madame de Volanges: Martine.
Martine: [fearfully] Yes, Madame?
[...]

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Connections

Version of Great Performances: The Dangerous Liaisons (1994)

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Soundtracks

"Te Deum"
Marc-Antoine Charpentier

User Reviews

better of the two by far

I notice a bit of a war going on between partisans of this and "Dangerous Liaisons" (the Glenn Close/John Malkovich/Stephen Frears vehicle). I'm not entirely sure why, but I find "Valmont" so much better. I think it's because: A) Milos Forman is unquestionably a better director than Frears, especially when he can call on the photographic talents of a cinematographer like Miroslav Ondricek; B) "Valmont" takes the time to develop some of the relationships between characters on screen, while the other simply injects the viewers into preexisting relationships; C) Colin Firth and Annette Benning are quite simply sexier than Glenn Close and John Malkovich; "Dangerous Liaisons" is too intellectual, while "Valmont" works at the hormonal level too. D) Fairuza Balk is far more believable as a virgin than Uma Thurman (can anyone say differently?!?). I certainly acknowledge "Dangerous Liaisons" as a well-made, well-acted film, but in the end I find it nearly unwatchable compared to "Valmont", which I can (and have) enjoyed over and over.