Re: Short quiz

Tim S <Tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Zeborah wrote:
Tim S <Tim@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Mr Micawber or Becky Sharp or Count Fosco or Tom Jones or Dulcinea or
the widow Wadham or Mlle de la Mole or Nastasya Filipovna or Cécile
Volanges or Dorothea Brooke or Madame de Nucingen or Count Vronsky or,
well, many others, would surely be better examples of classic mainstream
characters, even leaving aside ones that have also been portrayed in
numerous popular films or retellings.

I've seen a number of films with Cécile Volanges

Wow, I've only seen one. But I've seen a play, too, which was more
chilling than the film. Film seems to have an unavoidable tendency to
romanticise.

Which one did you see? Frears' _Dangerous Liaisons_ is the gold
standard, of those I've seen so far; IIRC it was based on the play. One
could definitely say it's more romanticised than the book, but that may
be a matter of stuffing all the plot into a short time period. I
haven't alas seen the play.

_Cruel Intentions_ is a lovely modern adaptation in which Cecile is a
bit of a wannabe, a bit of a twit, and a bit sulky, but she grows up
slightly by the end. _Untold Scandal_ is a gorgeously poetic Korean
version in which Cecile goes from naive to eager to chilling. Vadim's
_Les Liaisons Dangereuses_ is, um, a 1950s adaptation in which right
from the start Cecile is begging Danceny to let her be his mistress!

I have reviews of these last two on my website at
http://www.geocities.com/zeborahnz/reviews.html.

There are more I want to see: Valmont and... well, there's a (possibly
not complete) list at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Liaisons_Dangereuses#Adaptations

I've also considered writing a science-fiction version in which our
antiheroes seduce every alien in sight, but I suspect it's not going to
happen.

Zeborah
--
Gravity is no joke.
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