31
96
7
The Butterfly
This review may contain spoilers
A remake of Dangerous Liaisons made with an international cast of Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Chinese, Korean, and American actors. If this is the first version of this story you've ever seen, you might be far more impressed than I was.
What I liked about this movie: The cinematography was lush and the scenes were wrapped in golden light and settings. 1930's Shanghai came to life beautifully.
What didn't work for me: Mostly the acting and the reworked story. Cecilia Cheung played the Marquise de Merteuil/Madam Mo Jie Yu role. This is a key role, she was the independent, manipulative, devious mind pulling the strings in business, society, and the bedroom. She should have been the alluring lethal danger in this movie. Unfortunately, instead of displaying the cunning and cruelty at the heart of Jie Yu, Cecilia could only manage a fake smile and a grimace occasionally, bringing almost no nuance to this multi-layered character.
Jang Dong Gun in the Vicomte de Valmont /Xie Yi Fan role was pleasing enough but lacked the sexually sinister side needed as Valmont/Fan slept his way across Shanghai and ultimately tripped himself up by falling in love. Zhang Zi Yi portrayed the Madame de Tourvel/Madam Du Fen Yu role. Her performance was perhaps the most disappointing, and I'm a fan of hers. Somehow, they transformed her into a frumpy woman, a woman who moved and dressed like an elderly little old lady. A reserved character became almost lifeless in her hands, and it was hard to understand how Fan fell so hopelessly in love with her.
The secondary younger characters, integral to the story were given short shrift and much of their important action was done offstage.
Key parts of the original story were cut out or given to other characters. Sometimes a new vision works, this retelling of the tale did not for me. Again, if you've never seen other versions of this, this interpretation may be perfectly serviceable.
Most unsatisfactorily of all, they took the bite, rancor, revenge, and tragedy out of the ending. This cast lured me into watching yet another version of this story, bitterly disappointing me in the end. Jang Dong Gun's charisma did lift an otherwise limp version of this sexual and power games movie, but his performance wasn't enough to save it for me. Instead of Dangerous Liaisons it was more like Irksome Liaisons.
What I liked about this movie: The cinematography was lush and the scenes were wrapped in golden light and settings. 1930's Shanghai came to life beautifully.
What didn't work for me: Mostly the acting and the reworked story. Cecilia Cheung played the Marquise de Merteuil/Madam Mo Jie Yu role. This is a key role, she was the independent, manipulative, devious mind pulling the strings in business, society, and the bedroom. She should have been the alluring lethal danger in this movie. Unfortunately, instead of displaying the cunning and cruelty at the heart of Jie Yu, Cecilia could only manage a fake smile and a grimace occasionally, bringing almost no nuance to this multi-layered character.
Jang Dong Gun in the Vicomte de Valmont /Xie Yi Fan role was pleasing enough but lacked the sexually sinister side needed as Valmont/Fan slept his way across Shanghai and ultimately tripped himself up by falling in love. Zhang Zi Yi portrayed the Madame de Tourvel/Madam Du Fen Yu role. Her performance was perhaps the most disappointing, and I'm a fan of hers. Somehow, they transformed her into a frumpy woman, a woman who moved and dressed like an elderly little old lady. A reserved character became almost lifeless in her hands, and it was hard to understand how Fan fell so hopelessly in love with her.
The secondary younger characters, integral to the story were given short shrift and much of their important action was done offstage.
Key parts of the original story were cut out or given to other characters. Sometimes a new vision works, this retelling of the tale did not for me. Again, if you've never seen other versions of this, this interpretation may be perfectly serviceable.
Most unsatisfactorily of all, they took the bite, rancor, revenge, and tragedy out of the ending. This cast lured me into watching yet another version of this story, bitterly disappointing me in the end. Jang Dong Gun's charisma did lift an otherwise limp version of this sexual and power games movie, but his performance wasn't enough to save it for me. Instead of Dangerous Liaisons it was more like Irksome Liaisons.
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