Dangerous Name of the Game

"For the first time in my life I met a child with her father's eyes."

This cynical observation doubles as a declaration of desire for Marianne Tourvel, the child's mother and the bastion of Christian fidelity in Dangerous Liaisons 1960, showing this weekend at the Brattle Theater.

Dangerous Liaisons 1960

Directed by Roger Vadim

At the Brattle Theater through November

In this original screen adaptation of Choderlos de Laclos' scandalous 18th century novel, the game is everything Provocative and intriguing, Roger Vadim's film, set in contemporary Paris and New York, proves that Michelle Pfieffer did not have the last word as Madame Tourvel in the 1988 release of the film.

Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangerous is the tale of two aristocrats, Valmont and the Countess Juliette, who plot the seduction of several young women including Cecile Volanges and Madame de Tourvel. Cecile has a jovial middle-aged fiance, a source of some amusement as he bumbles about. She also has a young flame, Danceny. Valmont and Juliette each plan to seduce a member of the young couple while Valmont tackles, as an extra challenge, the pure Marianne. Juliette and Valmont are married in Vadim's version, as is Marianne, who has a young daughter, these facts make the levels of jealousy and scheming in the 1960s release that much deeper.

The film was a tremendous popular success in France and was the source of many official censorship attempts. As a truly French film, it succeeds where its more recent American counterpart fails. It has a subtly alien feel about it, far from the gawdy costumes and self-consciously clever language of the American version. This sense of slightly perverted reality makes it more seductive and, in turn, more than a witty farce. There is a depth to the characters that makes it truly wicked.

Much of Dangerous Liaisons 1960 takes place at a beautiful ski resort where the characters smoothly glide about, manipulating each other in a highly artful fashion. Valmont manages to slyly keep Marianne's glass full of wine at a New Year's Eve party and then uses the excuse of midnight to steal a none-too-chaste kiss. The film makes ample use of symbols in its framing of the shots, particularly those of the food. The characters also find themselves mirrored and foreshadowed by a series of very suggestive paintings.

All of this sophisticated maneuvering and teasing creates a sexy atmosphere. The love scenes are done with suggestive fade-outs and oblique, not quite discernable, soft-focus close-ups that are more erotic than today's obligatory nudity; they reveal the source of some of the original furor over the film. In fact, a number of the scenes look familiar, and one, which has Valmont calling Marianne while he is lounging on the bare Cecilia doing her homework, is paraphrased in the later film.

The one problem with both film versions has been how to conclude. Laclos' novel ends on a highly moralistic note, a complete reversal from the amoral fun of the sexual gaming. Neither film succeeds with its conclusion, and it is to Vadim's credit that he spends little time on this part of the story.

All in all, from Thelonius Monk's funky score to the pseudo-orgy in a New York jazz bar, Dangerous Liaisons 1960 is a very fun, very sly, and very sexy motion picture.