Chichester Cinema at New Park
Valmont
A year after Stephen Frears's Dangerous Liaisons, Milos Forman released this film, based on the same material: the novel Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
Shot at the same time but held so as not to compete, and was unfairly overlooked and underated. The story--about a pair of aristocrats, former lovers, who wager that the man cannot seduce a particularly chaste woman--is still awash in lust and intrigue. The film stars Annette Benning as the Marquise de Merteuil, a nasty aristocrat who delights in manipulating those around her. Colin Firth makes a very charming and handsome `Valmont' who knows how to use the 'art of seduction' to his advantage.
And if perhaps at first Colin Firth's performance might appear somewhat stolid, it therefore manages all the better to contrive his camouflage as a seriously dangerous seducer. The Oscar-nominated costumes are breathtakingly opulent and the palatial sets and locations are flawless and Milos Forman’s direction retains a European sensitivity.
USA · 
UK · 1990 · Milos Forman · 132min
