Dead souls...
Before watching this movie, you should clearly feel that you are watching. Even after repeatedly watching other versions of this work, among which were both successful and vice versa terrible, I still do not fully understand the meaning of everything. More precisely, what is the main idea, and the idea is quite clear, but why? Why put all this confusion on the screen? It doesn’t even seem to fit a little in my head. The film, you can say, even some, if not a child, then not an adult for sure. It's a very sweet idea of the film itself. On the other hand, one might ask, “What is the film about?” And here, too, the answer will not immediately pass to mind. About the "cream of society" games of those times? Or perhaps about the terrible nature of the human soul of the “cream of society” of those times? Anyway, what am I saying? The film is very multifaceted, and it’s wonderful.
Eighteenth century France. Viscount Valmont and the Marquis de Mertey lead a dangerous game fraught with broken hearts and crippled fates. The Marquise, wanting revenge on his longtime lover Gercourt, promises Valmont his favor if he seduces Cecil Volange, the young bride of Gercourt. Instead, Valmont is carried away by Madame de Tourvel, completely forgetting about the contract, and the Marquise has to find workarounds. Unwittingly, the ruthless heartthrob Valmont falls under the spell of the virtuous wife of President Tourvel, thinking about the price that will have to pay all participants in the intrigue.
And the most interesting thing is that after watching it, you can really say that the film is not about anything. But why does everyone like him so much? Because he's truthful. Choderlo de Laclos, when he wrote his novel, I am sure, and in his thoughts did not hold to make some “fantastic story”. After all, he himself lived among the society of that time, and I am sure that he knew how people, in the absence of televisions, computers and everything else, entertained themselves.
You can talk about the meaning of this film for a very long time, since I have already said that it is multifaceted. One may not understand all the motives of the main characters, but it is clear that they are all selfish, and even the same Valmont, who at the end of the film still repented, still remains that rotten soul, like the same “cream of high society” from Gogol’s novel “Dead Souls”, who were indeed dead, but nevertheless lived on our land.
In the cast you can see a lot of famous personalities. Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer, Swoozy Kurz, Keanu Reeves, Uma Thurman... Summarizing the film, I will say that this is the best adaptation of the novel by Choderlo de Laclo, which I have seen. Unfortunately, I haven’t read the novel, but I’m going to do it at the first opportunity. I liked this film, but I still think that the events taking place here are somewhat exaggerated.
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