Valmont | 1989
- DIRECTOR |
- Milos Forman
One of those odd coincidences that sees two versions of the same story being filmed simultaneously. This adaptation of Laclos’ Les Liaisons Dangereuses went into production before, and wrapped after, Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liaisons, but ultimately disappeared in its wake, despite having twice the budget.
It was made on locations in Paris, Caen and Bordeaux.
The estate of Mme de Rosemonde (Fabia Drake) is Chateau de la Motte-Tilly, an 18th century chateau at Nogent-sur-Seine, about 50 miles east of Paris.
The opera house, where the Vicomte de Valmont (Colin Firth) first meets the innocent Cecile (Fairuza Balk), is the Théâtre National de l'Opéra-Comique, 1 Place Boieldieu, Paris.
Interiors were shot in the Musée Nissim de Camondo, 63 rue de Monceau, a mansion on the edge of Parc Monceau in Paris and the Hotel des Ambassadeurs de Hollande, 47 rue Vieille-du-Temple in the Marais district of Paris – where Beaumarchais wrote The Marriage of Figaro. Despite its name, this splendid mansion has never been the Dutch embassy and, sadly, it’s not open to the public.
The horse stables are Musée Vivant du Cheval, the Living Museum of the Horse, at the Chateau Chantilly (a location seen in Bond movie A View to a Kill).
Filming also took place at Chateau de Versailles, and the Abbaye aux Hommes in Caen, built in 1064 for William, Duke of Normandy. The abbey is currently used as Caen’s town hall; Meaux, an old town about 35 miles east of Paris on the River Marne, and in Bordeaux.
