Dangerous Liaisons, 11/16/12, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design, and Best Art Direction 1988
I am so perplexed as to how Glenn Close still has not won an Academy Award, seriously (please see Albert Nobbs and Damages {not a movie, but she is awesome}). This may not have been her best performance ever, but you sure do believe her as the Machiavellian Marquise. She lost out this year to Jodie Foster in The Accused, and the competition was really stiff. The movie did win for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction; it certainly was a beautiful movie to watch, and I think it’s really hard to mess up the sumptuous dresses and gowns from 18th century France. The movie revolves around several intricate plots to spoil/despoil/deflower Madame Tourvel (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Cecile de Volanges (Uma Thurman) by Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich). There is a lot of dialogue and great use of language; I’m glad we don’t speak like that anymore because we would never finish any conversations, but it would be nice every once in a while to make flowery speeches with double entendres tucked so innocently away. Valmont is just sleazy and creepy and apparently he wears these characteristics as a badge of honor. Stephen Frears, who directed The Queen and My Beautiful Laundrette, uses the scenery and architecture of France to great advantage, and I am partial to 18th century music and there is a nice smattering of that throughout the movie. The scheming and debauchery hold up in comparison to 21st century series like The Borgias or Rome. Michelle Pfeiffer was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, but lost out to Geena Davis in The Accidental Tourist. I think it would have been very easy to overact in her role and be very cheesy, but she wasn't at all. I don’t get how she kept going back to Valmont, that seemed a little crazy and unbelievable, but you can’t have everything.
