Revisiting ‘Cruel Intentions’ On Its 20th Anniversary & Its ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ Forerunners [Be Reel Podcast]

Upon its publication in 1782, the French novel “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos was deemed scandalous and pornographic, which probably led to its infamy and success within the French upper-class—the same aristocratic contingent that the novel was ostensibly skewering. Two centuries later, the epistolary book would become the underlying intellectual property for the twin dramas “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988) and “Valmont” (1989).

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While the former, a Stephen Frears film starring Glenn Close and John Malkovich, was an awards contender back in 1988, if you’re under 40, it’s far more likely you know this source material due to a third adaptation: “Cruel Intentions.” Twenty years old as of this week, this Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Gellar teen hit traded pre-Revolution France for pre-“Gossip Girl” Manhattan.

On the latest “Be Reel,” we drop in on all three films to see how these stories of conniving heirs and heiresses attempting sexual conquest have aged. (Spoiler: It can be really dicey!) Film critic and erotic thriller aficionado Abbey Bender (Village Voice, Time Out New York) joins the show (30:15 mark) to help sort out this “Be Reel” category’s opulent costuming and super-creeps.

After all, these three films hinge on Marquise de Merteuil/Kathryn sicking human-sized-phallus Valmont on unsuspecting young women for the sake of a bet. By turns comical, maudlin, and down-right traumatic, Valmont “sleeps” his way through the Parisian court/Manhattan prep school, igniting the Lexington and Concord of the proverbial battle of the sexes. Choderlos de Laclos probably never expected (or maybe he absolutely expected) the #MeToo movement, but it renders this Be Reel trio of films troubling, divisive and ideal for an hour of… war.

Plus, take a look at the brand-new trailer that was released to mark the film’s 20th anniversary and its return to theaters: