Synopsis
Set in Baroque France, a scheming widow and her lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman. The lover, Valmont, bets that he can seduce her, even though she is an honorable woman. If he wins, he can have his lover to do as he will. However, in the process of seducing the married woman, Valmont falls in love.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Colin FirthValmont
- Annette BeningMerteuil
- Meg TillyMadame de Tourvel
- Fairuza BalkCecile
- Siân PhillipsMadame de Volanges
- Jeffrey JonesGercourt
- Henry ThomasDanceny
- Fabia DrakeMadame de Rosemonde
- T. P. McKennaBaron
- Isla BlairBaroness
Recommandations
- 88
Chicago Sun-Times
The Frears version is cerebral and claustrophobic, an exercise in sexual mindplay. - 88
Rolling Stone
The film is rapturously beautiful, enticing us into a lush, aristocratic world. - 88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Forman's treatment is another matter entirely - infinitely more subtle and, using the intrinsic bias of film, far more naturalistic. [18 Nov 1989] - 60
Empire
Making no secret of the fact that he has "freely adapted" the novel, writer Jean-Claude Carriere and Milos "Amadeus" Forman have come up with a visually mouthwatering epic treatment: beautiful, opulent, sumptuous. - 60
Variety
Milos Forman's meticulously produced Valmont is an extremely well-acted period piece that suffers from stately pacing and lack of dramatic high points. - 50
Chicago Reader
The results are too pretty and well acted to be a total washout, but the fascination with evil and power that gives the novel intensity is virtually absent; what remains is mainly petty malice and mild cynicism. - 50
Christian Science Monitor
Livelier, more absorbing, and generally better acted than "Dangerous Liaisons," which arrived a year ago. But it runs out of inspiration long before it runs out of plot twists, and we've seen the twists too many times before. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
Milo Forman's Valmont is the weakest version so far, suffering from willfully wrongheaded casting, a comic-strip "free" adaptation by former Luis Bunuel collaborator Jean-Claude Carriere, and Forman's heavy-handed direction of material that requires the most sophisticated glancing touch.
