Dangerous Liaisons: FINISHED (a while ago, too)

what I didn't make a note of last time is how damned hard an epistolary novel is to write

Laclos pulls it off brilliantly, but I kept thinking to myself it would be a horrendous undertaking to actually plan it out, complete with dates, locations of characters, and everything

and to have all the action be containable in letters

the story itself is pretty unsurprising toward the end, and I suppose the point is to illuminate how horrible human nature can be

it's quite utterly bleak compared to all the later adaptations, one of which I'll talk about in a bit

Laclos had said his goal in writing his book was to create a work that would be famous and discussed long after his own lifetime, which on the one hand is quite vain for a first-time author

but it does take that kind of nerve and self-confidence to get things done, and indeed he succeeded very well

Laclos isn't a "writer's writer" per se, and this is his only real work of literature, but it's a hell of an accomplishment

really he's a person with a scientific mindset and that shows through in both the almost obsessive care and planning of this novel, and some of the characters' sociopathic approach to sociology

mostly on Merteuil's part, and in spite of her villainy she is still the most memorable part of this story

perhaps why Merteuil is so dazzling and why Valmont sometimes seems inept and falls flat is that, basically,

Merteuil is a man's idea of what a charming woman acts like, and Valmong is a man's idea of what a charming man acts like

THEREFORE VALMONT IS OFTEN STUPID.

now regarding adaptations, I saw the Chinese version (2012 film) yesterday

Cruel Intentions is of course more famous and I think many people from a certain generation saw that, but this version is actually quite good

transitioning the setting from pre-revolutionary France to pre-revolutionary Shanghai works very well, there's a sort of surreal and unsustainable feel to it all

but people should remember that Laclos wrote the book before the French Revolution was even in the air. he wasn't prescient and the book was not a political statement

so many people get this wrong in reviews so it should just be pointed out

in any case, the casting of this one was perfect except for Valmont

(I have trouble remembering their Chinese names OTL...if I only see Pinyin and not the written characters I can never remember a name)

one would expect Zhang Ziyi to make a better Merteuil than Tourvel but she was excellent, and brings a layer of strength to her that is subtle at first

this is a setting that allows Tourvel to be a fighter and hopeful figure past the end, instead of just giving up as in the original

Zhang Baizhi as Merteuil is fantastic and spot-on, with that nastiness and sophisticated edge which is hard to replicate

it was an unconventional choice for the film to not punish her in terms of her social standing as is usually done, but emotionally (when the original and many others leave that in doubt)

it adds a dimension of humanity to her character, and doesn't "soften" her misdeeds at all

Valmont is a bit miscast as I said, maybe due to directorial bias, and is rather unbelievable at times

Danceny is cute I hate myself

I also wish Madame de Volanges didn't come off as shrill and ignorant in all of these adaptations (Cruel Intentions had this problem as well), in the novel she was-

-revealed in her own thoughts to be a good friend and an open-minded mother

anyway there is also a novel-faithful adaptation that has John Malkovich, of all people, as Valmont, and KEANU AS DANCENY

I may see this just to alarm myself unnecessarily

anyway other books...reading some random sci-fi and other stuff for a bit, if there's anything remarkable I'll report on it here

"a collection of outdated stories" "historical psychological horror"