Take my hand tonight
One last time…
AnonymousWhat are your thoughts on the last scene with Anette smiling as she drives his Jaguar? Some say it could mean she'd planned all this all along...
Oh boy, I don’t think you realized what you were getting into when you asked this question. :P I’m gonna have to go with a Read More for this because I have too many feelings when I talk about CI. Warning: this is gonna be rambley. lol
Cruel Intentions (1999)
In the game of seduction, there is only one rule: never fall in love…
via that-is-mohogany (originally poisonparadise)
For the anon who requested a gif of Sebastian saying ‘you were just a conquest’. Sorry this took so long. I couldn’t find a gif of this exact moment to reblog, so I had to make it myself, and I haven’t had as much free time to use this tumblr lately.
Okay, first things first. I have seen many interpretations of this story because I love it quite a lot. I’ve read the book and the play. I have seen several movie adaptations. I am also a bit of a theater aficionado. I live for drama (on the stage at least) and performance. This whole story plays up themes of revenge, jealousy, fidelity, lust, and love. The stakes are as high as death. It’s very dramatic and extremely entertaining to watch this story unfold no matter the setting.
The reason is that it is so human. All these emotions are taken and exaggerated and thus they can really show you some of the intricate workings of the human mind because you get to see people go through very emotional, traumatic, realistic (even though dramatized) situations.
The novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclosis told through letters between all the characters you still know and love from Cruel Intentions. They have different names of course, being that it is set in pre-revolutionary France and was originally published in 1782.
In Dangerous Liasions you have what it really a much more serious, period type Cruel Intentions. In the end, Merteuil truly loses everything because she has grown old. Her looks are gone, her power is gone, everything. However, her character is a bit more relatable. Not to say that Kathryn isn’t, I love Kathryn to death, but Merteuil shows more of her hurt. Yes, she is a bit evil, but you get to see more of her, the betrayal she feels and the love she harbours for Valmont. They are ex-lovers in this story as they are in all other tellings of this, and thus that is why I believe the choice to make them step-siblings in Cruel Intentions was a way to cop out of the fact that they are deeply connected and they very much love each other, no matter how messed up they are as people. Valmont is a little more vindictive in this adaptation it would almost seem. I think because it was more the norm to get away with sleeping with whoever the hell you wanted to back then, not that Sebastian didn’t do that. They just worried less about it. This Valmont seemed like even more of a ladies man. To sum up, this movie was excellent. The acting was superb, you could feel everyones emotions and struggles. The costumes and settings were beautiful and you get to see the story in such a wonderful light.
And now for Valmont. Little known fact, I am a sucker for all things Colin Firth. In this movie, he plays Valmont. Now, off the bat I should mention that this movie isn’t nearly as beautiful as Dangerous Liasions and I didn’t like it nearly as much. My mother, however, says it is her favorite. It’s still very good but I simply felt like there was a less clear telling of the story involved. I wasn’t nearly as emotionally connected to the characters as I like to be and I just didn’t enjoy it as much. That said, it is still great and a must see for fanatics of this story.
Any other questions on interpretations or clarifications? I am more than happy to answer.
- Melanie
