Valmont

film by Forman [1989]

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July 20, 2026

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The film Valmont (1989) is an adaptation of the 1782 French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. The novel, considered an early psychological novel, is written in an epistolary format and centers on the amoral libertine Valmont and his accomplice, Madame de Merteuil. They take pleasure in corrupting and manipulating innocent victims, with their schemes ultimately leading to their own destruction. The 1989 film was directed by Miloš Forman and starred Colin Firth as Valmont and Annette Bening as Madame de Merteuil.12

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- Miloš Forman
  …break from directing, reappearing with Valmont (1989), an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic novel Dangerous Liaisons. However, Forman’s version—which starred Colin Firth, Annette Bening, and Meg Tilly—was generally compared unfavourably to Stephen Frears’s adaptation, which had been released the previous year.
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  …break from directing, reappearing with Valmont (1989), an adaptation of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’s classic novel Dangerous Liaisons. However, Forman’s version—which starred Colin Firth, Annette Bening, and Meg Tilly—was generally compared unfavourably to Stephen Frears’s adaptation, which had been released the previous year.
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