Cristi_Ciopron I seldom write about movies I have seen once, many years ago; but Les Liaisons' cast makes it worth.I would say this spicy '59 flick is the best thing Vadim ever directed; not so much an adaptation, but rather a variation on Laclos' theme, a light, sardonic and suspenseful treatment, in an interesting movie, the only time known to me when Vadim handled with shrewdness a subject. I have seen it some 10 yrs ago, and still remember my joy; if Laclos' novel is a sharp, elegant masterpiece, once known to the European connoisseurs of French culture, Vadim's flick is an amusement. The cast is especially delightful: Merteuil is played by Mme Moreau (--Glenn Close, Bening, Gellar, Deneuve have been other actresses to take the same role, 30—40 yrs later--); Valmont is played by Philipe, that amazing actor (--Malkovich, Firth, Everett are no true contenders …--); Mme. De Tourvel has been played by more famous actresses in the subsequent adaptations (Mrs. Pfeiffer, Mrs. Tilly and Mrs. Kinski).It seems an indecency to give Close and Malkovich roles once made by Moreau and Philipe;

netwallah One of the best films about heartlessness I've ever seen, largely because of the fine work of Jeanne Moreau as Juliette and Gérard Philipe as Valmont. Setting most of the action at a ski resort is especially brilliant because it's at once full of glamour and quite enclosed. For a while the film seems to be a sort of sex comedy, especially with the seduction of the young cousin Cecile (Jeanne Valérie), who is in love with fellow student Danceny (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and engaged to a dull fellow chosen by her family. Cecile is very comely, and the post-seduction scene when she lies nude on her stomach doing her geometry homework and Valmont rests the textbook on her bum—it's sweet and amusing. It turns sour when Juliette steals Danceny and forces Valmont to abandon the virtuous Marianne (Annette Vadim) with whom he's actually fallen in love. Moreau is strong and beautiful and twisted, a tour-de-force acting job. At last, an angry Danceny strikes despairing but still glamorous Valmont, who falls and hits his head on an andiron and dies. Juliette accidentally sets her clothing on fire trying to burn their awful letters. Marianne goes mad when she learns of Valmont's death, and with a trance-like smile talks softly about the imaginary home they might have had together. The photography is really fine, and the best additional thing is the wonderful music by Thelonius Monk and Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. It's even better than I'd remembered it from many years ago.

dbdumonteil Among all Vadim's duds,"les liaisons dangereuses " seems to have stood the test of time better than the other "works" of the director.The reason is to be found in the cast.Gérard Philipe -though largely overshadowed by John Malkovich in Frears's version -and mainly Jeanne Moreau are earnest thespians and you cannot be wrong with them.And Roger Vailland and Claude Brulé had a good idea for the conclusion:fire instead of smallpox allows us to hear Laclos's immortal line "She's wearing her soul on her face!"Objections to this early version -to be followed by half a dozen of them- remain:that the story should have been transferred to the sixties is eminently questionable:La Merteuil was a definitely modern original character in Choderlos de Laclos's times ;in 1960,such a woman's behavior had become banal.Vadim would do worse when he would transfer Zola's "la curée" to his era.Proof positive that all that glittered in the nouvelle vague was not gold.

manxman-1 Interesting adaptation of the infamous Laclos classic, this movie was banned in England on it's original release. Difficult to understand why by today's standards. The movie is introduced by director Roger Vadim who basically warns that everyone is going to be bad, bad, bad. He then appears to head off to the nearest cafe for a nasty cigarette and a vile cup of coffee. Given that the movie was made a decade before the sexual revolution of the 1970's it must have had an aura of scandal about it at the time but is strictly tied to the 1950's and suffers from the inhibitions of the period. Very French, very stylish and well acted by the principals the storyline holds up but the cynicism and callousness of the original book are missing. Still, it's never boring and worth seeing for the performances and the direction that later, more explicit movies would take.