Valmont
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Movie Reviews of Valmont
Movie Review: Alexis wouldn't wear that rag!
Summary: 1 Stars
Yuck! Pe-tewy! What an tacky mess!
Ugly to look at. No hint that anyone understands the 18th century. What a disaster! Milos just doesn't get what a period film should be. He needs to stick with modern times. [He couldn't even do a convincing 1960s in "Hair"].
Now I'm not talking about [just] period accuracy; I'm talking about understanding the attitudes and ideas behind a work written long ago. If you don't understand these, you end up with "Dynasty" in corsets and wigs.
All the actors, except Sian Philips, are consistently annoying and completely unconvincing....as are the locations and costumes. It's almost as bad and as tacky as "Amadeus"! [In reality, nothing could be....but "Valmont" is close.]
It is a period film for those who don't like period films. Why not just do it in modern times? Because then it REALLY would be just another episode of "Dynasty".
Stick with "Dangerous Liaisons"....which has a few flaws but which is wholly convincing and beautiful. "DL" seems to take place in the world of adults living in the 18th century. "Valmont" come across as a college prank film... "Animal House" in wigs!
Yuck. Pe-tewy!
Movie Review: Among the Top 5 Best Period Films of All Time.
Summary: 5 Stars
I first saw this movie with a bad hangover in 1994, and it inspired a lust for getting back into the game. Believe me when I say that Colin Firth as Vicomte de Valmont had me from the very first frame. This is a stellar cast that involves Annette Bening as the evil Madame de Mertei, Meg Tilley as Madame de Tourvel, Henry Thomas as Chevalier de Danceny, and Faruza Balk as Cecille de Volange. This is a movie that is both sensual and humorous, romantic and tragic, but never loses its lust for color beyond the screen. Milos Forman's direction is second to none in a production of Dangerous Liasons which is far sexier and jovial than the stiff piece of offal that features John Malkovitch, Glenn Close, and Michelle Pfeiffer. I cannot say enough wonderful things about this humorous and beautiful adaptation, except that, as another reviewer pointed out, there was never a soundtrack. The music is some of the most heavenly and unforgettable I have had the pleasure to hear. Then again, the movie itself speaks volumes as well. A masterpiece by any definition, please make Valmont an inclusion to your prized film collection as I have. Movie Review: "Valmont" is amoral; "Dangerous Liasons" is cruel.
Summary: 4 Stars
"Valmont" is is a movie of selfishness, decadence, and amorality, but even the worst of the characters is not as cruel as in "Dangerous Liasons." Despite a similar plot, this difference produces two very different movies. "Valmont" is a gentler film than "DL"; "DL" has a sharper edge. Annette Bening's (V) Merteuil is less evil than Glenn Close's (DL). Colin Firth's (V) Valmont is boyish and dissolute, but John Malkovich's (DL) Valmont is boyish, dissolute, insecure, and cruel, and his insecurity and cruelty (and Madame Merteuil) lead to tragedy. I prefer Malkovich's Valmont for his impishness and tragic depth. I prefer Meg Tilly's (V) Tourvel to Michelle Pfeiffer's because I have never seen such a convincing performance of a woman in love. I've seen such a face a few times in my life, but it was real, not an act. Her face is illuminated, transfigured.
On the whole, I prefer "Dangerous Liasons," but "Valmont" is better than "DL" in several ways. Perhaps it comes down to one's nature and view of human nature.
Movie Review: "M?nage a Trois" (ou quatre)
Summary: 3 Stars
It is based on the book "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" (by Choderlos De Laclosoften) composed entirely of letters written by the various characters to each other. It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont, two rivals who use sex as a weapon to humiliate and degrade others, all the while enjoying their cruel games. None of these characters ever historically existed, but the author certainly found his inspiration from real people, and by observing the decadence of the French aristocracy shortly before the French Revolution.
Milos Forman, the famous and talented director born in Czechoslovakia, made a great movie here, although maybe not as successful as "Amadeus" - perhaps because it was made shortly after the adaptation of the same book by Stephen Frears? At least, it is not the typical American scenario: "good against evil" and "the good wins at the end". Here, the main characters have nuances and contradictory thoughts. Annette Benning gives a superb and inspired performance as the smart, insensitive, manipulative Marquise de Merteuil. The British actor Colin Firth is the most charming Valmont I have ever seen! A bizarre but yet very likeable "Libertin" of the 18th century.
Many people often think that this "M?nage a Trois" captures the essence of the French. I have never figured out why, really, but I suppose rumors and stereotypes have a long life! How funny and how untrue... But well, watching the movie is worse it.
Enjoy the ride!
Movie Review: Aristocratic Libertines
Summary: 5 Stars
A wonderful film for the boudoir, dealing with a treachorous widow {Merteuil: Annette Bening} and her lover Valmont {Colin Firth} who make a bet that a certain perfidious woman can be seduced, despite all indications to the contrary. Indeed, where there's a will, there certainly is way. The aristocratic world of the flesh runs rampant in 17th century France, with passionate lusts, delicious seductions, precarious predicaments, beautiful environments, fiendish gentlemen and lascivious ladies - veritable succubi and incubi enjoying the pleasures of the earth, eachother, and loving every minute of it.
It seems this is the only manner where the so-called "golden rule" can be applied in "love thy neighbor as thyself", where 'love' is merely a euphemism for lust.
The sets are absolutely splendid, a definite inspiration for one's own total environment, and the actors, particularly the sublime Meg Tilly {Tourvel} for My taste, are superb. Etiquette abounds even through sinister means. The rest of the plot deals with a series of exquisite enticements. Pre-'The Craft' Fairuza Balk plays nubile 'Cecile', seduced by the salacious Valmont during a tutoring session, and even her boyfriend Danceny {Henry Thomas from E.T.} is himself seduced by the voracious Merteuil as part of a subsequent quarrel between the two, who mirror eachother in many respects, and actually admire one another's ardent natures.
Sadly, due to one bad decision, Valmont falters in a duel, and meets his demise at the hands of Danceny. It was rather humorous viewing the funeral where many of the women attending placed flowers and adoration upon him in the coffin, where the viewer knows he took his liberties with each one.
Personally, I enjoyed this version of the novel much better than the over-hyped "Dangerous Liaisons", which itself does have its points, although Valmont seems somewhat more 'authentic'.