The film was shot entirely on location in the Île-de-France region of northern France, and featured historical buildings such as the Château de Vincennes in Val-de-Marne, the Château de Champs-sur-Marne, the Château de Guermantes in Seine-et-Marne, the Château du Saussay in Essonne, and the Théâtre Montansier in …

IMDb Rating: 7.6

Cécile becomes pregnant and eventually suffers a miscarriage. Valmont has the “evidence” removed. All the while, the Marquise and Valmont keep conspiring to muddle Cécile’s relationship with Danceny. After Danceny kills Valmont, Cécile returns to the convent to become nun, much to her mother’s distress.

1782
Dangerous Liaisons, novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in 1782 as Les Liaisons dangereuses. The work, also translated as Dangerous Acquaintances, is considered one of the earliest examples of the psychological novel.

51 years (April 29, 1970)
Uma Thurman/Age

The element that makes Les Liaisons Dangereuses such a complex and effective book is the fact that it is an epistolary novel, that is, a novel made up entirely of letters. The epistolary novel was particularly popular in the 18th century in both France and Britain.

While Rousseau only includes letters exchanged between two lovers, Laclos brings in several correspondents, giving his book a much more multilayered texture. Glenn Close as the Marquise de Merteuil in Stephen Frears’ 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons.

John Malkovich as the Vicomte de Valmont and Glenn Close as the Marquise de Merteuil in Stephen Frears’ 1988 film Dangerous Liaisons. Note to readers: You may choose to read this analysis of Les Liaisons Dangereuses here or listen to it on the audio file at the end of the article.

In a manner, Les Liaisons dangereuses is a literary counterthesis to the epistolary novel as exemplified by Richardson ‘s Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. Whereas Richardson uses the technique of letters to provide the reader with a feeling of knowing the protagonist’s true and intimate thoughts,…