Why so many people in so many countries love doing their interpretation of the French novel "Dangerous Liaisons" (I'm giving the English translation, I know) is beyond me. It's not THAT great a story. There have been two American versions (which includes "Valmont") plus "Cruel Intentions," plus the Korean version entitled "Untold Scandal." I'm sure there are even more versions out there that I don't even know about.
In any event, because I'm a Zhang Ziyi fan and the reviews were relatively decent, I thought I'd give it a shot. This film is OK if you like Asian cinema, but there is no reason to go out of your way to see this film. Zhang is extremely restrained in this role, and unless they intentionally wanted her to look less attractive than she has in the past, her beauty is starting to slip. I had never seen the sumptuous Cecelia Cheung before, and she trumps Zhang in the looks department this time around.
With the exception of a very moving sequence by Zhang when she realizes she's been duped, I thought the film was soulless, and broke little new ground compared to the other versions I've seen. If you want to see a great version of this story, then the Korean version called "Untold Scandal" is for you. My review for that one is under that movie on IMDb.
In any event, because I'm a Zhang Ziyi fan and the reviews were relatively decent, I thought I'd give it a shot. This film is OK if you like Asian cinema, but there is no reason to go out of your way to see this film. Zhang is extremely restrained in this role, and unless they intentionally wanted her to look less attractive than she has in the past, her beauty is starting to slip. I had never seen the sumptuous Cecelia Cheung before, and she trumps Zhang in the looks department this time around.
With the exception of a very moving sequence by Zhang when she realizes she's been duped, I thought the film was soulless, and broke little new ground compared to the other versions I've seen. If you want to see a great version of this story, then the Korean version called "Untold Scandal" is for you. My review for that one is under that movie on IMDb.