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The film follows the fortunes of a pair of debauched aristocrats who manipulate and toy with each other on a grand scale, drawing others into their elaborate and dangerous erotic games.
The anachronistic brio which distinguishes Forman's style is in pleasurable evidence, the approach to the subject is very much his own, and it's worth seeing if you forget all about the original.
Valmont is a superb piece of craftsmanship, impeccable in every detail from lighting to costuming, but as a work of art it remains tentative and blurred.
The results are too pretty and well acted to be a total washout, but the fascination with evil and power that gives the novel intensity is virtually absent; what remains is mainly petty malice and mild cynicism.
Because there are no characters animating his panorama, all this serves to prove is that though Forman's movie is broader than Frears', it is also shallower.
Directed by Milos Forman, this film is livelier, more absorbing, and generally better acted than Dangerous Liaisons, which arrived a year ago. But it runs out of inspiration long before it runs out of plot twists.