Review of Dangerous Liaisons (2012) by Blake P — 18 Mar 2013

There's been tons of adaptations of the vintage French novel "Les Liaisons Dangereuses", and while the American version remains the best known, I avoid it, considering its melodramatic reputation. My next choice was the 1959 French adaptation with Jeanne Moreau, but when I saw that this version, starring the incomparable Zhang Ziyi, I jumped at the chance to see it. Sure enough, it's an excellent piece of melodrama that's even more perfect because we don't see it as often as we should. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Xie Yifan (Jang Dong-kun) is a selfish, morally corrupt womanizer who happens to have a bit of money and who happens to be constantly charming. While the women can't resist him, and he knows it, he still secretly pines for his rich ex-girlfriend, the eloquent Mo Jieyu (Cecilia Cheung). On the outside, Mo is beautiful and speaks politely, but truly she's a monster that may as well be Xie's opposite, maybe even worse. When sweet widow and humanitarian Du Fenyu (Ziyi) pops into town, Mo bets Xie can't win, bed, and then dump her. If he pulls it off, Mo promises he can have her. Xie looks at it as fun at first, but it morphs into something a little more complicated than he imagined.

There are two kinds of movies with characters like this: 1) The characters are awful and we don't like them or 2) there are characters that are jerks but we love to see them behave badly. Luckily, "Dangerous Liaisons" is a version of the former, and I'm happy to say so. For such a simple plot, it packs more of a punch than most soap operas, all the while classing it up with elegant sets and costumes that make it even more successful as a period piece.

The cinematography is artistic and sumptuous, while the music remains static to remind us that everything happening is fake. But the real power behind the film is the acting by the three leads, all of whom are incredible. Dong-kun reminds us time and time again how cocky his character is, but manages to believe him when he feels a true moment of compassion. Cheung pulls off a smile as sweet as "Amelié" but gives us the chance to hate her when things get dangerously mean-spirited. However, once again Zhang steals the show. She's one of the best actresses in the world, and she's one of the few that can play fragile and really mean it. Her character hardly speaks any lines, but her face says more than that when we even see one falter in her composure we can't help but sympathize with her. These three pull off some of their greatest performances.

While this Hong Kong adaptation of "Dangerous Liaisons" still remains unknown to most, it's a treat for those who seek it out. This is professional, glossy entertainment that nearly irresistible.