Dangerous Liaisons
危険な関係
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
Two aristocrats wager on the seduction of a virtuous wife; the same Laclos novel later became Cruel Intentions and Untold Scandal.
Paris, in the years before the Revolution. The Marquise de Merteuil, a widow, has been dropped by her lover, the Comte de Bastide. To humiliate him she wants his bride-to-be, Cécile de Volanges, a very young girl just out of a convent, seduced and disgraced before the wedding, and she asks the Vicomte de Valmont, a former lover as unprincipled as she is, to do it. Valmont declines. He is set on seducing the devout Madame de Tourvel, a guest at his aunt Madame de Rosemonde's country house while her husband presides over a trial in Burgundy. Merteuil raises the stakes: if he seduces Tourvel and brings written proof, she will sleep with him.
Tourvel resists. Valmont has his valet seduce her maid so that he can read her letters, and learns that Cécile's mother, Madame de Volanges, has warned Tourvel against him. In revenge he takes up Merteuil's plan after all. Cécile has fallen in love with her music teacher, the Chevalier Danceny, a young man with too little rank and money to marry her, and Merteuil encourages it. Valmont gets into Cécile's bedroom on a pretext and sexually assaults her, using blackmail to stop her resisting. Merteuil, whom Cécile trusts, tells her to accept his 'lessons'. By day Danceny courts her; by night Valmont visits her. Merteuil takes Danceny as her own lover. Cécile becomes pregnant and miscarries.
Valmont wins Tourvel and, to his own surprise, falls in love with her. Jealous, Merteuil mocks him and will not keep her promise unless he gives Tourvel up. He leaves her with a curt phrase Merteuil has supplied: it is beyond his control. Tourvel withdraws to a convent and falls gravely ill. When Merteuil still refuses him, she declares war and tells Danceny that Valmont has been sleeping with Cécile. In the duel that follows, Valmont deliberately lets Danceny kill him. Dying, he asks Danceny to tell Tourvel what she meant to him, and hands over Merteuil's letters to be made public. Tourvel dies soon after hearing his message. At the opera Merteuil is booed by the society she ruled and leaves her box. Alone at her mirror, she wipes off her make-up.
Starring
Glenn Closeas Marquise de Merteuil
A widowed aristocrat who governs Paris society through seduction and secrets, and wants revenge on the lover who left her.
Marquise de Merteuil’s story
Merteuil has practised concealment since girlhood, and when Bastide leaves her she wants his bride seduced before the wedding. She sets Valmont a wager: Tourvel, with written proof, for a night with her. She befriends Cécile, encourages her love for Danceny, then shows her mother where their letters are hidden; once Valmont has assaulted the girl, she tells her to accept his 'lessons', and takes Danceny as her lover. Seeing that Valmont has fallen in love, she mocks him and will not keep her word unless he leaves Tourvel. He does, and still she refuses; she declares war and tells Danceny about Cécile. Valmont's death devastates her. Her letters are made public, and booed out of her box at the opera, she sits alone at her mirror and wipes off her make-up.
John Malkovichas Vicomte de Valmont
A libertine and Merteuil's former lover, who treats seduction as sport until he falls in love with the woman he meant to ruin.
Vicomte de Valmont’s story
Valmont turns down Merteuil's scheme as too easy: he has set himself to win Tourvel, a wife known for her virtue. Knowing her servant is following him, he pays a poor man's debts, and has his valet seduce her maid so that he can read her letters. Learning that Cécile's mother has warned Tourvel against him, he takes revenge on the daughter, getting into her room on a pretext and sexually assaulting her. He wins Tourvel at last and finds he loves her. Mocked by Merteuil and ashamed of the feeling, he leaves Tourvel with words Merteuil gave him: it is beyond his control. Merteuil still refuses him, and they are at war. In the duel with Danceny he lets himself be killed; dying, he sends Tourvel his love and hands Danceny the letters that will ruin Merteuil.
Michelle Pfeifferas Madame de Tourvel
A devout and faithful wife staying with Valmont's aunt, who resists him for as long as she can.
Madame de Tourvel’s story
Tourvel's husband is presiding over a trial in Burgundy, and she has been warned about the Vicomte before he arrives. She is touched to hear of his charity in the village, but when he declares his love she asks him to leave, and offers him only her friendship. One rainy evening she begs him, for the sake of her peace of mind, to go, and then lets him carry her to her bed; he leaves, and that same night, admitting to herself that she loves him, she goes away. When he comes after her, she gives in. Soon afterwards he tells her he is bored with her and that it is beyond his control. She withdraws to a convent and falls gravely ill, and when Danceny brings her Valmont's dying message, she dies.
Uma Thurmanas Cécile de Volanges
A very young girl just out of a convent, engaged to Bastide and in love with Danceny, whom the scheme is built to ruin.
Keanu Reevesas Chevalier Danceny
Cécile's music teacher, a young man without fortune who loves her and is used by Merteuil.
Swoosie Kurtzas Madame de Volanges
Cécile's mother and Merteuil's cousin, who warns Tourvel about Valmont and trusts Merteuil completely.
Why it matters
Dangerous Liaisons is about sex used as a weapon by people who are bored, clever and protected by rank. Merteuil tells Cécile that in a society so contemptuous of women, a woman must take what she can. The film lets that argument stand as a real grievance, and shows in the same scenes what it costs the girl it is used on, who is assaulted and then taught to accept it. Valmont's undoing is the one thing the game cannot allow: a feeling he did not choose. Christopher Hampton adapted his own stage version of Choderlos de Laclos's 1782 novel, and the film won three Academy Awards, his for the screenplay among them. What it leaves open is whether Merteuil, alone at her mirror, is being punished for her cruelty or for being a woman who played the men's game better than they did.