miscast
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sidgirl — 10 years ago(August 29, 2015 08:18 AM)
This is an old post, but the conversation is so interesting!
I have to agree with you, shaye22. Malcovich is criminally sexy in this. His physical attributes matter so much less than his attitude and demeanor, his sense of humor and confidence and intelligence.
He made such an impression on me the first time I saw it in my teens that to this day I find him attractive.
To quote another period film I love (Amadeus) "Looks don't concern me, Maestro. Only
talent
interests a woman of taste."
People said love was blind, but what they meant was that love blinded them.
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marilouba — 11 years ago(April 14, 2014 07:40 PM)
This http://www.imdb.com/board/10094947/board/nest/84148010?ref_=tt_bd_4
will answer why was John Malkovic picked up for the part, since women tend to drop like flies for him no matter how non conventionally handsome(to put it gently) he is. As for Glenn Close I really can't say, but in 18th Century France man's/woman's beauty was very much different to what we're used to seeing and classifying as beauty nowadays. Don't go too far..check out movies from later in the 90s and see what was considered pretty, comparing to now.
On the other hand, sex appeal and desire that someone causes to people is not 100% linked to the looks, someone can become charming or irresistible cause of station, act, snobbishness even. -
yorick-23 — 11 years ago(March 27, 2015 01:50 AM)
The plot is so unbelievable to me because both Malkovic and Close are disastrous miscasts. Glenn Close is a great actress of course but an ugly woman. () And John's sex-appeal also must be in the director's eyes only. They just can't sell the story to me. Sorry.
The fact that they don't look like underwear models makes this cast so perfect. This movie is about the art of seduction. To have to repel applicants just because of prettiness isn't seduction.
Valmont may not be a handsome man, but he compensates this lack with wit, charme, personality and unscrupulousness. That's why he's that famous seducer. At one point Merteuil states, she had to have him
before
they even met, for the sake of her self-esteem. So his looks were completely irrelevant. -
furienna — 11 years ago(April 03, 2015 11:54 AM)
To me, there was nothing witty or charming about Valmont. At least not enough to make it realistic that he seduced a teenage girl, who was in love already with a guy much more suitable for her age-wise. He was only disgusting to me.
Intelligence and purity. -
yorick-23 — 10 years ago(April 10, 2015 12:08 AM)
Valmont may be older than Danceny, but unlike that pale bore (another perfect cast: Keanu Reeves) he's interesting. If I had to choose between John Malkovich and Keanu Reeves, it would be John Malkovich, hands down. But like Marquise de Merteuil said so wisely, why either or you can have as many as you like.
Seduction is not a matter of the looks, it's a matter of the skills.