That was an excellent one.
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
View MoreAmazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.
View MoreTrue to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.
View MoreMany of the reviews here included are as good as anyone needs. Therefore, I will not waste your time, nor mine, writing a subjective take on what is a 6 to 8 point movie. What compels me to write, however, is a correction: the music was not written by Thelonious Monk, as is stated in at least two reviews. The credit goes to pianist Duke Jordan (1922-2006), contemporary and friend of Charlie Parker, except of course, that Jordan lived a much longer life, the last 25+ years (since 1978) in Denmark. For those who are interested, the full line up in the soundtrack includes: Sonny Cohn trumpet, Charlie Rouse tenor sax, Eddie Kahn bass, and Art Taylor drums. And, if you excuse a bit of trivia: Duke was married with jazz singer Sheila Jordan from 1952 to 1962 (at this writing, Ms Jordan is 89 years old and still performing!). Concluding, this movie has arguably one of the best jazz soundtracks of the time, not an uncommon event in French film during the 1950s and 1960s (e.g., Miles Davis, Art Blakey). This cool, post-bop, hard bop era was a great creative time for jazz, no doubt. Memorable and rewarded by time till this day.
View MoreThis is one of the three best adaptations (This, Valmont, Dangerous Liaisons). People seem not to like it but I loved when I saw it. Maybe this is just because i read it before i read the novel and it was the first adaptation i saw. But, whatever, you say it is Vadim's best film. the updating in this film is ten times better than cruel intentions, which simply does not work in terms of update. Cruel Intentions does not make us very well understand the big deal about screwing Cecile. Even though it is not as much of a big deal in this film as it would have in the 18th century, it is still pretty big. I also love the idea that Valmont and Merteul are husband and wife. Although it changes some plot things from the novel, I think it works because of its simplicity and it also gives an excellent reason for what they do: They do it, selfishly, so as not to destroy their own relatonhip. Gerard Philippe and Janne Moreau's acting is absolutely superb. It is completely realistic and, like Yves Montand and Daniel Autel in Jean De Florette, it makes us realize that what they do is something we could as well unlike John Malkovich and Clenn Close in Dangereous Liaisons who are way too evil to be believed or understood.
View MoreAs far as plot goes, Vadim doesn't actually add anything new to the ages-old and oft-redone Laclos story, something, in fact, that he mentions himself during the introduction.Rather, he retells it as simply as possible - the stark black and white imagery is beautiful, and the dialogue is actually quite sparse. You're invited to see the connections between people through body language, smiles, and laughter. It's actually too understated at times, but the effort can be appreciated.And the spoiler...Vadim's most significant addition to the cluttered world of Laclos-rewrites was to *marry* Merteuil and Valmont. He confesses at the introduction that the general hedonism of the characters would never shock a 1960's audience - so he had to up the bar. It's no longer the fact that they play people and wantonly take lovers, it's the fact that they're such willing partners in one-another's games. A wife helping her husband seduce a new (underage) conquest? Except in the creepy world of internet fiction, that's still very, very creepy...Well done. Not the best of the films - John and Glenn still have that wrapped up - but a solid runner-up.
View MoreThis hyper-cool French updating of the Laclos classic is a blast from start to (amazing) finish; its immorality can be a drag in the middle section, but there's too much fun to be had in it to abandon it for that reason. Jeanne Moreau does the full range of bad girl, and her performance alone would merit a viewing, but you can also enjoy the film for its sleek, French attitudes, its Thelonius Monk score, a handsome young Jean-Louis Tritignant, his suits, her wardrobe, and so on, forever. It's a nasty little film is some ways, but I enjoyed it immensely just the same.
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