Colin Firth in Milos Forman's Valmont

Film Adaptation of Choderlos De Laclos' Dangerous Liaisons

Dec 6, 2008

An analysis of Forman's 1989 adaptation of Laclos' novel, focusing on the characterizations of Valmont by Colin Firth and Madame de Tourvel by Meg Tilly.

In his novel Dangerous Liaisons, Choderlos De Laclos portrays the world of the 18th century French aristocracy as one of superficiality, decadence and moral degeneration in which woman are placed at the mercy of a patriarchal double standard. The main charatcers make up a social class which is alienated as a result of its extreme wealth, where woman are regarded almost like pieces of commercial property to be married off to the highest bidder. However, many critics accuse Milos Forman's film adaptation Valmont of completely trivializing these social and political issues. This argument can be justified by the film's portrayal of two of the main characters in comparison to Laclos text.

Valmont

Colin Firth's interpretation of Valmont alters him dramatically from the methodical, calculating and sadistic rogue of the novel, who according to Madame de Volanges 'can calculate how far a man may permit himself to do dreadful deeds without compromising himself...' (p.27), to a sort of jouveal prankster, whose pursuit of woman is more like that of an adolescent than a manipulating schemer.

His seduction of Madame de Tourvel lacks the intensity evoked by Laclos' text, where as a result of his relentless attempts of seduction, Madame Tourvel is gradually reduced to a state of complete psychological turmoil. The film is much more light hearted in the way it deals with the relationship, and as Rita Kempley argues 'there is nothing dangerous about Forman's variation on the novelist's schemes...' (1). Valmont's declaration of his uncontrollable and desperate passion during letter 24, 'take pity on me and quieten, I beg you, the torments of my soul...' (55), is portrayed by Firth during the lake scene as more of a bad joke, and lacks the danger of the novel.

In fact the entire scene is played more for laughs, and the terror of Madame de Tourvel in the novel is reduced to mild embarrassment, and Firth's childish collapse into the lake where he pretends to be drowning turns him into a character who is more endearing than he is dangerous..

Madame de Tourvel

Rather than a woman of strict morals who is broken down by the schemes of a ruthless rogue, Tourvel is more like a shy teenager, who is light heartedly teased about her fidelity during the dinner table scene, and overall appears to be slightly naive. This is unlike Laclos' characterization of Madame de Tourvel as a virtuoso, whose seduction by Valmont causes her to knowingly sacrifice everything in which she believes. The novel's emphasis on everything which Tourvel stands to lose is what makes Valmont's pursuit of her so dramatic, and her eventual downfall all the more tragic.

Ultimately it illustrates the extent to which a woman is ruined in the eyes of society through a single act of infidelity, and the ruthlessnesses of Valmont who is quite prepared to destroy her simply to increase his reputation. Laclos reinforces these social points in the novel by drawing parallels between Madame de Tourvel and the famous protagonist Clarissa from the novel of the same name, which Tourvel reads soon before she finally relents to Valmont.

Her appeal for him to leave the chateaus, and her eventual departure in the film lack the highly dramatic build up created by in Laclos text. Crucially the film misses out the point where Valmont takes pity on her does not complete the seduction even though he has the oppurtunity. He admits in letter 99 that her desperation and consequent 'violent convulsions' caused him to be 'deeply moved' (239), something which implies he has genuine feelings towards her and that he is a character not completely void of acts of compassion.

In the film, Firth is not of at all ruthless enough for this point to have such dramatic impact, and the fact that Madame Tourvel does not stand to lose as much as she does in the novel makes her psychological state in the film by no means as severe. This causes her seduction to be an anti climatic in comparison to the novel. Valmont seduces her easily, whereas in the text he has to employ numerous tactics to reduce her to a state of total despair and resignation.

The film depicts Tourvel dressed in a red hood returning home to a waiting Valmont - which has obvious connotations of red riding hood - and simply falling into his arms. The fact that she is more naive rather than a character psychologically broken is further stressed by the way she melodramatically prostrates herself to Valmont the morning after, and states 'I want to serve you...'(1.27). This makes her slightly unbearable, and a adds a comic element to Valmont's departure as he listens with awkward embarrassment and then quickly flees. Unlike the catatonic despair which she descends into in the novel, where she is completely destroyed by his rejection, Tourvel quickly learns from her mistake and simply does the same to Valmont in return.

Forman inverts the relationship in the film and makes Valmont the ultimate victim rather than Tourvel, who simply returns to her husband without any moral qualms whatsoever. This certainly alienates the social points being stressed by Laclos' novel, in which the fall of Tourvel illustrates the precarious nature of a womans position and the double standard that exists within the society.

Sources

The copyright of the article Colin Firth in Milos Forman's Valmont in Film Dramas Based on Books is owned by Marius Goubert. Permission to republish Colin Firth in Milos Forman's Valmont in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.