When the cruel pair makes a bet that Yifan has no hope of seducing the prim and proper Du Fenyu (Zhang Ziyi)- a wager neither party has even considered losing- matters begin to spiral out of control as young lovers Beibei and Dai are thrown into the mix and the human element rears its ugly head. In a world where power is as metaphysical as it is monetary, the sensual and conniving Miss Mo (Cecilia Cheung) enlists the allure of notorious playboy Xie Yifan (Jang Dong-gun) to help her toy with the relationships of unsuspecting acquaintances. In their case, all's well does not end well.An adaptation of the two hundred year old French novel of the same name, director Jin-ho Hur's Dangerous Liaisons remains fairly faithful to the book, with the noticeable exception of landing the story in 1930s China. As much as these characters tried to make you hate them, there's a perverse pleasure in seeing that they all eventually earn their due. Adding to the rich tapestry of emotion, corruption and guilt in the story, the costuming was exceptionally extravagant and finely detailed, one simply marvels at the refined taste of the era's decadent near-royalty. I liked the Marquise's description of Valmont as a virtuoso of deceit, that was all too fitting, but was just as undeniably true of herself. The cat and mouse game that the Marquise de Merteuil (Glenn Close) engaged in to whet the sexual appetite of Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich) was cunning yet vile, and one has a difficult time placing these characters in an Eighteenth Century setting, as their machinations would have been perfectly at home in a Twentieth Century 'Dallas'. I would never have expected such inspired entertainment from such malevolent characters. Reviewed by classicsoncall 8 / 10 "I thought 'betrayal' was your favorite word." When Merteuil learns that he has actually fallen in love with her, she refuses to let him claim his reward for seducing Cecile. He has little difficulty seducing Cecile but what he really wants is to seduce Madame de Tourvel. His reward for doing so will be to spend the night with Merteuil.
Valmont is someone who measures success by the number of his conquests and Merteuil challenges him to seduce the soon to be married Cecile de Volanges and provide proof in writing of his success. In 18th century France, the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont play a dangerous game of seduction.
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