Roger Vadim had a bit hit with Les Liaisons Dangereuses which presumably inspired him to film another "sexy classic", Schnitzler's famous play, a daisy chain of love affairs - a work much performed by drama courses because it gives so many people a decent sized role.
It's a pretty faithful adaptation - Jean Anouilh did the screenplay - which actually might have been better had it been sexed up a bit. It's not particularly erotic - certainly not to compare to Vadim's other movies like And God Created Woman or Blood and Roses. It's as if Vadim was especially on his best behaviour to avoid censorship issues and the fun is muted.
The cast doesn't help - the actors certainly aren't as good as the 1950 version. Best value is Jane Fonda, speaking in French, as the wife who sleeps with a younger man and then her husband; she's younger than I always pictured this character, and no doubt I'm influenced by the fact she's the most familiar cast member to me, but she had beauty, sexiness and gives a good performance. The men are damp squibs for the most part (Jean Sorel is okay as the young officer) but the women include Anna Karina and Catherine Spaak.
Apart from Fonda's bits no vignettes really stood out for me, and that was mostly due to her - the characters weren't that interesting. While they each have a decent amount of screen time, enough to make an impression, they're not compelling. And there isn't sexual tension to compensate, or even nudity - just the odd flash of a bare back. It's disappointing. There is however impressive colour photography and art design.
No comments:
Post a Comment