Review of Dangerous Liaisons (2012) by Ray H — 22 May 2013

This is a very entertaining movie. It is effectively a remake of the American 1988 film, starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich. The 1988 movie was better crafted over-all. This film is set in Shanghai, 1931. The Japanese have invaded Manchuria; and are threatening all of China. There are refugees in Shanghai. The war is a background story. The sets and costuming are very well done. The major characters are all very good.

The Glenn Close character, Ms. Mo (Cecilia Cheung) was very good. She has that elegant look you would expect from this character. She also pulled off her image as a scheming female in a male dominant society. However, Glenn Close was better. The most impressive character is Fenyu (Zhang Ziyi)(ie. in Michelle Pfeiffer's role). Her unraveling, after being cruelly dumped by Xie (Jang Dong-gun)(ie. in the J. Malkovich role) was tough to watch. Ms. Zhang is a very impressive actress. She is the equal of any current Western actress. The seducer, Xie, was adequate. But, he did not sell the smarmy, morally corrupt, driven character that Malkovich did so very well. No one plays smarmy, better than JM.

This is a very good dramatic story. The costuming, the sets, the scheming, the sexual seduction/play, and the corruption and heart-break of innocents is hard to equal elsewhere. This Chinese remake is a worthy effort, with an Asian point-of-view.