Oficiální web Miloše Formana

The Marquise de Merteuil asks her former lover Vicomte de Valmont to seduce her fifteen-year-old cousin Cecile. At first, Valmont refuses because he is attracted to the beauty of the married and devout Madame de Tourvel, who is staying at his elderly aunt’s country estate. Offended, the Marquise makes a bet with Valmont: If he seduces the chaste wife of the older judge, he will be given access to the Marquise’s bedroom. If he fails, however, he has to enter the monastery.

Meanwhile, the Marquise abuses the trust of the naive Cecile’s childish love for the young music teacher Danceny, and offers to help the young couple realise their love. This complicated game of intrigues eventually turns against its initiators. Naive Danceny doesn’t want Cecile as his lover; he wants to marry her in all propriety, and this turn of events completely spoils the Marquise’s plans. In addition, Valmont falls in love with Madame de Tourvel. However, after Valmont seduces Madame de Tourvel, he isn’t able to accept her love, and he leaves her.

Valmont returns to the Marquise and demands his reward for winning their bet. He offers to marry her, but the Marquise is too proud and independent to accept his offer. As a result, the Marquise starts yet another round of mutual revenge, but this time there will be no winner.

Forman doesn’t present the two main characters as heartless manipulators; rather they are presented as vulnerable beings. Furthermore, it is clear that Forman understands their deeply felt emotions and tragicomic contradictions. His Marquise de Merteuil is the epitome of a cunning, emancipated woman, who refuses to live in thrall to a man. His Valmont is an eternal boy, who is scared of obligations to the point that he even sacrifices his only love. The highlight of the film is the sparkling conversation of both conspirators, which is full of tricky insight, soft sarcasm, and human vanity.

Even though Forman adapted the film from the popular story of court manners, the release date hindered its success. The film was released shortly after the premiere of a more successful adaptation of the same novel, “Dangerous Liaisons”, filmed by the British director Stephen Frears, which is based on the well-known theatre dramatization by Christopher Hampton. Since its initial release, Forman’s film has found an audience as well as critical acclaim. Critics appreciate Forman’s directorial touches, such as his typical emphasis on the seemingly uninteresting minutia of reality, and also the psychological motivation of his characters.

• “I have spent a lot of time in pursuit of the intoxication and grace that occurs when the whole world falls away from you and your lover. This state, by necessity, never lasts, but while it does, it is like nothing else. In my version of the story, Valmont searches for this very feeling. He is a womanizer, a libertine with a long history of conquests, but only because he is seeking a deeper relationship. In an ironic twist of fate that he finds it with Madame de Tourvel, the prudish wife of a judge. It scares Valmont so much that he drives her away and throws himself into a suicidal duel.”
• “The relationship between Valmont and Madame de Merteuil is like the strange flirtation that often develops between a director and his leading lady. I always project my most tender feelings and fantasies onto the women in my films. I show my leading lady my very real affection and encourage her to reveal her heart, her self, and her innermost thoughts. As she does, I fall in love with her in a peculiar way. We both know this odd emotional transaction helps the movie. But I hold myself back and dare her to tempt me more, to reach out to me more to charm me and show me that she will do anything I ask of her. At the same time, I am careful not to give in to the feeling between us I am afraid to appear naked and vulnerable before her. Our professional relationship requires a certain amount of mystery and authority on my part, but I always look forward to wrapping the production, when I’ll be able to consummate the fantasies. But when we finish shooting, I discover that the actress is no longer interested in me. I grounded my understanding of the enigmatic bond between Valmont and Madame de Merteuil in this strange push-pull of emotion, this unconsummated infatuation that I’d experienced through virtually all my films.”
• “'Valmont' was a commercial flop, which should have put me in bed for months. But on the very day of the premiere The Velvet Revolution started in Czechoslovakia, and it was headed by my old schoolmate from Podebrady.” (writer and dissident Vaclav Havel, editor’s note)