Colibel
Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
WasAnnon
Slow pace in the most part of the movie.
Gurlyndrobb
While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Married Baby
Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?
Cristi_Ciopron
I seldom write about movies I have seen once, many years ago; but Les Liaisons' cast makes it worth.I would say this spicy '59 flick is the best thing Vadim ever directed; not so much an adaptation, but rather a variation on Laclos' theme, a light, sardonic and suspenseful treatment, in an interesting movie, the only time known to me when Vadim handled with shrewdness a subject. I have seen it some 10 yrs ago, and still remember my joy; if Laclos' novel is a sharp, elegant masterpiece, once known to the European connoisseurs of French culture, Vadim's flick is an amusement. The cast is especially delightful: Merteuil is played by Mme Moreau (--Glenn Close, Bening, Gellar, Deneuve have been other actresses to take the same role, 30—40 yrs later--); Valmont is played by Philipe, that amazing actor (--Malkovich, Firth, Everett are no true contenders
--); Mme. De Tourvel has been played by more famous actresses in the subsequent adaptations (Mrs. Pfeiffer, Mrs. Tilly and Mrs. Kinski).It seems an indecency to give Close and Malkovich roles once made by Moreau and Philipe;
netwallah
One of the best films about heartlessness I've ever seen, largely because of the fine work of Jeanne Moreau as Juliette and Gérard Philipe as Valmont. Setting most of the action at a ski resort is especially brilliant because it's at once full of glamour and quite enclosed. For a while the film seems to be a sort of sex comedy, especially with the seduction of the young cousin Cecile (Jeanne Valérie), who is in love with fellow student Danceny (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and engaged to a dull fellow chosen by her family. Cecile is very comely, and the post-seduction scene when she lies nude on her stomach doing her geometry homework and Valmont rests the textbook on her bumit's sweet and amusing. It turns sour when Juliette steals Danceny and forces Valmont to abandon the virtuous Marianne (Annette Vadim) with whom he's actually fallen in love. Moreau is strong and beautiful and twisted, a tour-de-force acting job. At last, an angry Danceny strikes despairing but still glamorous Valmont, who falls and hits his head on an andiron and dies. Juliette accidentally sets her clothing on fire trying to burn their awful letters. Marianne goes mad when she learns of Valmont's death, and with a trance-like smile talks softly about the imaginary home they might have had together. The photography is really fine, and the best additional thing is the wonderful music by Thelonius Monk and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. It's even better than I'd remembered it from many years ago.
johnnyx-2
As far as plot goes, Vadim doesn't actually add anything new to the ages-old and oft-redone Laclos story, something, in fact, that he mentions himself during the introduction.Rather, he retells it as simply as possible - the stark black and white imagery is beautiful, and the dialogue is actually quite sparse. You're invited to see the connections between people through body language, smiles, and laughter. It's actually too understated at times, but the effort can be appreciated.And the spoiler...Vadim's most significant addition to the cluttered world of Laclos-rewrites was to *marry* Merteuil and Valmont. He confesses at the introduction that the general hedonism of the characters would never shock a 1960's audience - so he had to up the bar. It's no longer the fact that they play people and wantonly take lovers, it's the fact that they're such willing partners in one-another's games. A wife helping her husband seduce a new (underage) conquest? Except in the creepy world of internet fiction, that's still very, very creepy...Well done. Not the best of the films - John and Glenn still have that wrapped up - but a solid runner-up.
Maurizio Von Trapp
Les Liasions Dangeureses is one of the best books ever written - very rococo, very stylish, and very evil but a kind of evil that you have to love. It is surprising even for me to say that the American version of this film beats this horrible French version. The film starts with the director obnoxiously explaining the plot and the characters are continuously explaining themselves. This story is all about secrecy, style and good manners. The film replaces all the good stuff with characters that say out loud all the facts the viewer should be obliged to ponder on. I saw this film with two other fans of Viscont de Valmont and Marqueis de Merteuil (I don't know if that's how you write it) and by the time the film had hit the first half an hour our faces were all alike - disillusioned and disgusted.