Review of Dangerous Liaisons (2012) by Shawne ~ — 05 Oct 2012

Thereâ(TM)s a reason why the story that lies at the heart of Dangerous Liaisons has been told over and over again since it was first published in France as a controversial novel in 1782 â" even after 230 years, the novelâ(TM)s racy mix of sex, mind games and gender politics remains bitingly relevant today. The storyâ(TM)s ability to bridge differences in culture, geography and history means that itâ(TM)s been played out countless times on stage (as a straight play, an opera, and even a ballet!) and in film, where you can have your pick of adaptations: thereâ(TM)s the Oscar-winning 1988 film starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich, a Korean version set in the 18th century featuring dreamy auntie-killer Bae Yong Joon (Untold Scandal), or a thoroughly modern interpretation playing out in the halls of an American high school (Cruel Intentions).

So thereâ(TM)s certainly a lot of promise in a version set in 1930s Shanghai, where the familiar web of tangled relationships is filtered through the lens of a deeply conservative society on the brink of a devastating war. Jang Dong Gun plays Xie Yifan, a rich, slick playboy who schedules his sexual encounters by day of the week and who has only ever felt really alive around Mo Jieyu (Cecilia Cheung) â" a feisty, power-hungry woman who is every inch his equal in business and in bed. Jieyu challenges Yifan to a wager â" she will offer herself to him exclusively if he can help her humiliate her most recent lover by deflowering the latterâ(TM)s sweetly virginal fiancà (C)e Beibei (Candy Wang). In his cavalier way, Yifan ups the stakes, offering to throw the seduction of the recently bereaved, extremely virtuous Fenyu (Zhang Ziyi) into the bargain.

As you can imagine, a movie based on such a tantalising premise should be an electrifying, provocative experience. Unless youâ(TM)re a sociopath, youâ(TM)re not likely to easily identify with the unscrupulous duo who lie, cheat and manoeuvre their way into the hearts and beds of pretty much every other character in the film. But stronger adaptations of the source material still find a way to make you care â" to grab you by the gut when you least expect it, and elicit pity for the ways in which characters like Yifan and Jieyu have trapped themselves in their own games.

Unfortunately, this incarnation of Dangerous Liaisons feels safe and sedate when it should be anything but. It hits all the familiar story beats, but does so with a lack of heart and urgency. The stakes in the gamble between Yifan and Fenyu are high, but they never come across that way even when death and despair enter the equation. As the characters stumble purposefully towards tragedy, the overwhelming response is, frustratingly, one of clinical detachment. On many occasions, Korean director Hur Jin-Hoâ(TM)s camera literally loops around his characters, trapping them onscreen in their gilded cages â" which Iâ(TM)m sure is partly the point, but has the unintended side-effect of further distancing the characters from the audience. In the end, watching Yifan and Jieyu prowl around each other and their prey is like watching ferocious beasts of the wild within the entirely safe confines of a zoo - the caged creatures are dangerous in theory, but neutered in practice, and the entire experience is as far removed from reality as itâ(TM)s possible to be.

Thatâ(TM)s not to say the lead actors didnâ(TM)t do good work in this film, even though the script (which departs from the ending of the novel in a couple of annoying ways) does them no favours. Zhang comes across as rather miscast at first â" sheâ(TM)d have been a more natural fit for the part of sexual predator, surely! â" but manages to convince as Fenyu starts to respond to Yifanâ(TM)s advances. Jang is appropriately sexy and tortured as Yifan, as it becomes clear that heâ(TM)s in his own way as much a victim as his sexual conquests. Cheung is the real star, gliding across the screen with steel and grace while hinting at a heart that keeps Jieyu on the right side of tolerable.

The film also boasts a gorgeous aesthetic. Itâ(TM)s lovely to see Shanghai lit with the kind of soft autumnal glow usually reserved for Paris â" the Chinese metropolis feels like a storybook city, cloaked in snow and underscored by the gentle swirl of jazz and classical music. Occasionally, the movie sparks to life when itâ(TM)s tied more firmly to its location â" with references to the civil unrest that threatens to disrupt a night out at the Beijing opera, or the poverty that was rampant on the streets of China even as the rich grew richer from the fortunes of the cityâ(TM)s bustling port.

If youâ(TM)ve never before encountered Dangerous Liaisons in any form, you might find within this film a story intriguing enough to compel you to seek out better versions of the same tale. Otherwise, this is the movie equivalent of a snow-globe â" an insular, obviously constructed world thatâ(TM)s lovely to look at, approximates a storm when you shake it up, but holds no real sense of danger or life.

BASICALLY: Many liaisons, not much danger.