
In 18th century France, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont play a dangerous game of seduction. Valmont is someone who measures success by the number of his conquests and Merteuil challenges him to seduce the soon to be married Cecile de Volanges and provide proof in writing of his success. His reward for doing so will be to spend the night with Merteuil. He has little difficulty seducing Cecile but what he really wants is to seduce Madame de Tourvel. When Mer... (Full plot summary below)
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In 18th century France, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont play a dangerous game of seduction. Valmont is someone who measures success by the number of his conquests and Merteuil challenges him to seduce the soon to be married Cecile de Volanges and provide proof in writing of his success. His reward for doing so will be to spend the night with Merteuil. He has little difficulty seducing Cecile but what he really wants is to seduce Madame de Tourvel. When Merteuil learns that he has actually fallen in love with her, she refuses to let him claim his reward for seducing Cecile. Death soon follows.
Leave your thoughts about Dangerous Liaisons.
| Capital Times (Madison, WI)Rob ThomasFor a tragedy that carries a strong emotional kick, it's wickedly fun. |
| Washington PostHal HinsonA delectably naughty experience. This sort of wit and immediacy is extraordinarily rare in a period film. |
| Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumPfeiffer reveals an emotional nakedness that's almost shocking. Never has she exposed so much and done it so simply. Who knew she could be this good? |
| The New YorkerPauline KaelPfeiffer is a revelation in her part, almost stealing the film. Her relative stillness, masking internal unrest, makes her character seem more authentically "period" than her co-stars, who have adopted no formal period mannerisms. |
| Time OutSteve GrantA sombre, manipulative affair in which the decor is never allowed to usurp our interest. |
| NetflixJames RocchiStephen Frears' direction is superb -- the design and lighting evoke simultaneous worlds of privilege and squalor, and while the nature of day-to-day life in 18th century France becomes readily apparent, it never becomes distracting. |
| Chicago ReaderJonathan RosenbaumThe film seems a bit studied, but the creepy plot still holds a certain fascination. |
| USA TodayMike ClarkIf there is anything lacking in the movie, it may be a certain gusto. The director, Stephen Frears, is so happy to make this a tragicomedy of manners that he sometimes turns away from obvious payoffs. |
| New York TimesVincent CanbyWitty, entertaining, if occasionally overripe. |
| Matinee MagazineChuck RudolphPerhaps the juciest adaptation of the story that one could hope for. |