LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES
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Not that Cartmill shouldn’t be the dominant actor in the show, for the play belongs to Valmont. Not only is he the most interesting, the most dangerous, the most sexually active character–at one time or another he has slept with every woman in the show except his maiden aunt–but without Valmont, nothing would happen. It is Valmont who initiates young Cecile, who has just finished her convent education, into the mysteries of sex. It is Valmont who pursues Madame de Rosemonde and tempts her into adultery. And it is Valmont who encourages the shy music teacher Chevalier Danceny to pursue Cecile.
This is why John Malkovich’s passive, asexual portrayal of Valmont in the movie (based on Hampton’s play) was so unsatisfying–he hardly seemed the sort of character who would even bother to get up in the morning, much less the sort to persuade a good Christian woman to desert her virtue and her husband in favor of a rogue. Cartmill’s incredibly charming, seductive, and foppishly sexy Valmont seems far more likely to lead a woman astray. Cartmill all but slithers as he turns from one liaison to another, proving that he is truly the subtlest beast in the field.
Of course only bad direction can account for so many off performances in a single show. Hampton’s wonderful play should crackle with sexual desire. Under David Perkovich’s direction, it has all the sexiness of a stale marriage.
