Dangerous Liaisons is a period piece based on the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. Many of us have seen the infamous 1988 Hollywood version starring Glenn Close, John Malkovich andMichelle Pfeiffer set in 1760’s France. It is a story of sexual conquest, jealousy, heartbreak and seduction. The scene of these sexual politics has moved to 1930’s, Shanghai, China in a 5^th remake of the story by talented Korean director Hur Jin-ho. The movie was a complicated undertaking for the Chinese producers who confessed it had taken 9 years and completely private funding to pull the movie off. It debuted at the Cannes 2012 Film Festival with an ending that left the audience hugely disappointed. That ending was immediately changed. Another complication was that the movie had to be filmed entirely in Chinese, which Jang Dong-gun, the lead confessed is a difficult language to learn but he did it. Famed actor Leslie Cheung had originally been slated to play the lead since early 2001 but his tragic suicide put the project on hold in 2003. myETVmedia caught up with the cast and producer on the Red Carpet at TIFF 2012.

One of three central characters in this story is the wealthy businessman Xie Yifan (Jang Dong-gun) who is a serial seducer/womanizer. The other two major characters are the beautiful Du Fenyu (Zhang Ziyi) who is very beautiful but a grieving widow and Mo Jieyu (Cecilia Cheung), the glamorous chairwoman of the Hudong Bank.  The complicated web of duplicity involves several players.

Here’s the story:

16-year old Beibei (Candy Wang) is engaged to a very wealthy older man Jin Zhihuan (Shang Han). She secretly is in love with her drawing teacher, a young college student called Dai Wenzhou (Shawn Dou). Beibei’s mother is determined that the arranged marriage to the business magnate should go forward to maintain the family’s wealth and status. The business tycoon wishes to marry a virgin and is willing to pay a handsome sum of money to do so. Mo Jieyu (Cecilia Cheung) is a seductress herself. She knows Xie Yifan and has refused to sleep with him in the past. For fun she decides to offer him a challenge. He must seduce the 16-year old virgin and steal her virginity to embarrass the older businessman Jin Zhihuan. To her surprise Yifan refuses and she notices that he has his attention set on in the quiet and recently widowed but beautiful Du Fenyu (Zhang Ziyi). Mo Jieyu decides to make an offer she thinks Yifan cannot refuse. If he can seduce Du Fenyu without falling in love with her then she Mo Jieyu will sleep with him. If he cannot then he will have to give Mo Jieyu a very valuable piece of land in payment for loosing the bet. What are Mo Jieyu’s real motivations for this bet? Will Du Fenyu finally forget the love of her life, her dead husband and move on? Will young Beibei escape her cruel fate?

The movie is beautifully filmed with period costuming and settings that are worth the trip to the theatre. It was intriguing to see this new adaptation of a story that has captured the imagination of many a filmmaker. One remake, Cruel Intentions saw it played out as a high school piece starring Reese Witherspoon. This version is skillfully acted and directed and quite distinctly different from previous versions. The language is difficult for a foreigner’s ears but the story is so well told through the lens of the camera that much of this can be forgiven. It is possible that the language barrier does contribute to a loss of emotional connection that is difficult to overcome through subtitles over the course of the film.

-Moira Romano