Dangerous Liaisons
What Do I Think of ...?
The story: The number of times this story has been told in movies as well as in other mediums (novel and theater) shows how are fascinated by the story. The main structure of the story was brilliantly put into the screen. It's engaging, elegant, and very interesting. The different character intersections with each other through out the movie was nicely done as they used each other to act out their lust, revenge, deceit, and manipulation. The three major characters were all fully realized characters. All of the three's last scene (which happen to be not with each other) provide memorable and powerful closures with Close's character appropriately getting the very last scene as her societal reign was tragically put into an end.
The performance: Pfeiffer gave a touching and devastating performance. She perfectly captured the different stages of the character's development from the harmless, righteous woman to her struggles to the advances of the Vicomte and eventually of her own feelings, to finally surrendering and allowing herself be part of that "dangerous liaison" and finally to being heartbroken of how that liaison concluded. Her best scene was when she was subtly but visibly fighting her own emotions as she was clearly falling for the Vicomte. The guilt, restrain, and the helpless and inevitable surrender she conveyed in that scene was an acting ahowcase for her. You believe that it was "beyond her control".
The character: Madame de Tourvel is a righteous, religious, and virtuous lady who became the major casualty of the deadly game of manipulation and deceit played by the two lead characters (Close and Malkovich). She never imagined she would be in the situation she was in because just like what the Vicomte said, the every essence of her character contradicts every predicament she was in. It's a great character for Pfeiffer because it needs sincerity and minimalist acting to capture the "guilt" which is very essential emotion for the character.
The costars: Glenn Close gave a marvelous performance in a role she's so adept at playing. She had that "period appropriate" spunk and edge that made you believe that she's some sort of society goddess. When she finally got what she deserved in the end of the movie, she magnificently conveyed a person crushed by defeat. And is it just me or is her fate more tragic than the fates of the Vicomte and Madame de Tourvel? John Malkovich, the chameleon himself, matched Close every step of the way. His arrogant and assured characterization of the Vicomte was very effective, physically he may not be the most attractive man but he made you believe that he WAS the elusive heartthrob of that time. Uma Thurman as Cecile was surprisingly young. Her naive and childish interpretation of the character was also good although sometimes I find the delivery of her lines a little weird particularly in the beginning of the movie. Keanu Reeves in a thankless role, never really made enough impression. Maybe because of the very limited role he played or maybe how he underplayed the role.
Notes, Observations, Questions Etc.
This movie is the only movie in her career to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
Did I just miss something or Glenn Close and Michelle Pfeiffer didn't have scenes together? Pfeiffer's scenes were mostly shared with Malkovich.
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