"Liaisons dangereuses, Les" (2003) TV mini-series

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Josée Dayan

Writers:

Choderlos de Laclos (novel)
Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (adaptation)

Release Date:

25 August 2003 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

Updated adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' classic 18th Century tale of seduction, betrayal and revenge...

Plot Keywords:

1960s | Betrayal | Horseback Riding | Infidelity | Paris France

Cast

Catherine Deneuve	...	Marquise Isabelle de Merteuil
Rupert Everett	...	Vicomte Sébastien de Valmont
Nastassja Kinski	...	Madame Maria de Tourvel
Danielle Darrieux	...	Madame de Rosemonde
Leelee Sobieski	...	Cécile de Volanges
Andrzej Zulawski	...	Antoine Gercourt
Cyrille Thouvenin	...	Hugo / Ludovic
Françoise Brion	...	Madame Volanges
Tedi Papavrami	...	Raphael Danceny
Maria Belooussova	...	La pianiste de la fondation
Paolo Capisano	...	Me Plissu
Jacques Collard	...	Le médecin de la clinique
Guy Dangain	...	L'appariteur de la fondation
Sophie Hermelin	...	La secrétaire de la fondation
Emilie Lafarge	...	L'assistante du directeur polytechnique

Also Known As:

Dangerous Liaisons (USA)

Runtime:

Canada:203 min | France:252 min | Germany:182 min (2 parts) | USA:202 min (2 parts)

Country:

Canada | France | UK

Language:

French

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Australia:PG

Filming Locations:

Angus, Scotland, UK

Company:

JLA Productions

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The series takes place in late-'5's - early-'60s, yet Maria has a modern phone with a keypad in her hotel room.

Movie Connections:

Version of Liaisons dangereuses, Les (1980) (TV)

What a mess!

How could a big splashy TV-event starring the combined beauty of Miss Deneuve, Miss Kinski and Miss Sobieski and the reptilian charm of Mister Everett miss?

By being rather dull and boring. Somewhat based on that stalwart tale of love, revenge, lust and hate 'Liaisons Dangereuse' the story takes place in a kind Swinging Paris and casts French Idol Deneuve as the Real Wicked Witch of the West. And that's the major fault of the otherwise adequate show: Miss Deneuve, looking alarmingly like Ivana Trump in decay, is much, much too old (and, I'm sorry to admit, old looking) to be credible as the most amoral woman this side of the Channel. Mister Everett fares a little better, but not much. Poor Nastasja Kinski! Once a glamorous and talented star she is relegated to a mere piece of furniture. And Miss Sobieski (said to be the great-great-great niece or something like that of Jan Sobieski, who defeated the Turks in the battle of Kahlenberg and so saved Vienna in 1683) appears rather frumpy and plumpy. No sings of her remarkable talent she demonstrated in the much underrated damsel-in-distress shocker 'The Class House' not so long ago.

All in all: a monumental waste of time and money. Even Roger Vadim fared better with his less-than-adequate modern version of de Laclos' glum tale.