Dangerous Liaisons review

 Number 601 on the top 1000 films of all time is the period drama 'Dangerous Liaisons.'

Based on the book and later stage play of the same name, Dangerous Liaisons is set in pre-revolution France. It follows two scorned socialites: the Vicomte de Valmont (John Malkovich) and the Marquise de Mertuil (Glenn Close) as they plot revenge on their ex-lovers. Michelle Pfieffer, Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman co-star.

If there is one thing you should know by now is that I don't care for a period drama. Never have done. They've never appealed to me, often focussing on parts of history I don't care about, as well as containing characters I don't care about.

This was certainly the case with Dangerous Liaisons where the characters were painfully tedious and pretentious. They were rich people with such shallow problems that they have to invent their own conflicts to be seen as remotely interesting to outsiders. But instead of interesting, they were quite boring really.

This wasn't the fault of the actors, or at least, the older generation of John Malkovich and Glenn Close. Both of the lead actors were terrific and deserve any flowers they were given. They were much better than their younger counterparts: Keanu Reeves and Uma Thurman. Both of which were such wet blankets that it was difficult to believe they would go onto dominate Hollywood in their own respective ways.

Dangerous Liaisons was also an Oscar-darling. It was nominated for no less than seven Oscars, with Glenn Close getting a nod for Best Actress, but also going onto win Best Costume AND Best production design. I cannot deny that the production itself looked exquisite from the ways to the dresses and suits - not one hair was out of place.

I never like to judge films especially period dramas, before I've watched them. That's what I did here though and my initial judgements were completely correct. 

Empire of the Sun review

 Number 480 on the top 1000 films of all time is Steven Spielberg's epic coming-of-age drama 'Empire of the Sun.'

Jim Graham (Christian Bale) is a young, spoiled English boy living in 1940's Shanghai China. However, after the Japanese invade, he is separated from his parents and sent to an internment camp. There he has to rely on his wits, as well as his relationship with two American hustlers Basie (John Malkovich) and Frank (Joe Pantoliano) as well as his relationship with other prisoners like Dr Rawlins (Nigel Havers) or Mrs Victor (Miranda Richardson) to survive.

Famed film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel gave a mixed review of the film deciding that despite its potential it seemed like a mishmash of different ideas that never gelled together. I would agree with this assessment. Empire of the Sun struck me as a film where despite having all of the necessary jigsaw puzzles was still unable to put them together in a satisfactory way.

And the film straddled too many genres without ever fitting into one. It's set during World War Two yet its PG-13 rating stopped it from really focussing on the true horrors of the war. Although it's a coming of age drama, Tim's transformation from a naive, pompous schoolboy into a streetwise hustler was largely glossed over. As such, these emotional beats didn't land.

It's a shame as, even though, Christian Bale was playing one of those annoying characters who fuelled the narrative with their own stupidity, he showed early promise of the Oscar-winning actor he would become. Considering this was only his second film role this is saying something. And considering he was acting alongside heavyweights like John Malkovich and Miranda Richardson, this was also saying something big. Not to mention, they played less than satisfactory characters who flitted in and out of the story.

Ultimately, I think this film was wasted potential. I'm always interesting in learning more about the Japanese side of the war, but this film left me cold.