Customer Reviews

Game of Seduction

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Director Roger Vadim is credited with the first film adaptation of writer Chaderlos de Laclo's "Les Liaisons Dangerous," back in 1959. His first Liaisons adaptation is probably his best film on DVD. His first movie, "And God...Created Woman,"is his most influential, and is credited with starting the French "New Wave" back in 1956. His most famous is probably Jane Fonda's "Barbarella." However, "Les Liaisons..." aka:"Dangerous Liaisons 1960," renamed after 1988's superior version, holds the most interest of Vadim's output as far as over all cinematic craft. Brigitte Bardot and Ms. Fonda are the only reason to watch their ex-husband's displays of them.
In the early 1970's Vadim tried to strike lightening twice with "Game of Seduction." The names have been changed, but they're the same people and the story is unchanged from Laclo's creation. However, this version is the weakest, not only of Vadim's career (and THAT'S saying something), but also the worse of the major Laclo's adaptations. Even 1999's dirty joke "Cruel Intentions" is more entertaining and better filmed. Game... is poorly acted by most of the leads and supporting players. The dubbing is attrocious. Whatever visual flair Vadim was attempting for is lost on the fuzzy DVD quality.
The one thing to recommend it, apart from the interest of another adaptation of Laclo's timeless, brilliant tale, is Sylvia Kristel. Nathalie Delon and Jon Finch are so wooden you can practically see the bark on their skin, but Ms. Kristel, fresh from her "Emmanuelle"
fame, is dewey eyed and incredibly innocent looking. One of her best qualities is to seem spontaneous. She fakes "innocent" extremely well, and is still quite believable when sexual passion overtakes her (obviously why she excelled in sex dramas.) She glows in every scene she's in, and makes the movie watchable.