Cruel Intentions

 (1999)

Cruel Intentions Blu-ray delivers stunning video and solid audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Kathryn and Sebastian are rich, spoiled step-siblings who enjoy competing with each other at power games. Sebastian bets Kathryn that he can seduce Annette, the daughter of their school’s new headmaster, who is a famous advocate of waiting until marriage. But to Sebastian’s shock (and Kathryn’s horror), Sebastian finds himself falling in love. Now Kathryn is out for revenge. Suggested by the novel Les Liasons dangereuses.

For more about Cruel Intentions and the Cruel Intentions Blu-ray release, see the Cruel Intentions Blu-ray Review

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, Selma Blair, Christine Baranski, Louise Fletcher
Director: Roger Kumble

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Cruel Intentions Blu-ray Review

Cruelty Is Universal

Reviewed by Michael Reuben, August 31, 2011

Imitation is a sincere form of flattery, but it's rarely an exact imitation. I once wrote a paper comparing Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra with the version called All for Love written in 1678 by the poet John Dryden, whose finely honed verse was considered small compensation for the reduced stature of his characters. Dryden's Anthony was a professional soldier undone by politics, not the tragically heroic battle lord drawn by Shakespeare, while the Cleopatra that wooed him was a charming schemer and hardly the doomed, epic heroine that Shakespeare forged into a classic role cherished by great actresses. Dryden's failure to create towering characters may have condemned his play to less of an afterlife than Shakespeare's, but I argued that he had written exactly the kind of play and characters he intended, because in Dryden's time the great passions that had seemed so compelling for Shakespeare's age had fallen out of fashion, and grandeur wasn't what it used to be.

Similar considerations apply to Roger Kumble's Cruel Intentions, which borrowed a general plot outline from the French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos, but reset it in a contemporary New York peopled by rich, spoiled teens in a kind of precursor to Gossip Girl. So liberal is the plot's translation that the less the viewer knows about the original, the better, because the behavior of the film's puerile trash-talkers will seem more credible if one isn't constantly ticking off a checklist of reference points to Laclos' novel or the various films and plays that have been made from it, including Stephen Frears's Dangerous Liaisons from 1988.

(And just to illustrate my point about imitation, this opening is an homage to the introductory style of a fellow reviewer. But I won't say which one.)



Cruel Intentions takes place in a hermetically sealed world of wealth where callow teens who have grown up wanting for nothing have concluded that ordinary rules don't apply to them. The king and queen of this world are a pair of vipers who were made for each other, but instead of becoming a traditional couple, they're step-siblings, their parents having married each other after divorces. Kathryn Merteuil (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Sebastian Valmont (Ryan Phillippe) share the same "I want what I want when I want it" approach to sex, but despite the David Mamet-style frankness of their conversation, it's clear that the physical act of intimacy isn't what interests them. It's the conquest, the subjugation of another person, the obliteration of his or her will. That's why, despite their obvious attraction, they've never slept together. Neither will submit to the other.

In the opening scene, Sebastian conquers (indirectly) his celebrity therapist, Dr. Greenbaum (Swoosie Kurtz, whose appearance is a nod to Dangerous Liaisons, in which she also appeared), who has authored a bestseller on good parenting. Sebastian feigns a sincere session, which he leaves just before the doctor takes a tearful call from her daughter, Marci (Tara Reid), who has just discovered the nude pictures of her that Sebastian posted on the internet in a parody of her mother's book cover. Dr. Greenbaum races after Sebastian, who grins while she pounds on a window, in a shot that's a direct quotation from The Graduate, one of director Kumble's favorite films (I've included it in the extra screenshots).

But while Sebastian can be public and swaggering about his exploits, his stepsister Kathryn must maintain a veneer of respectability. She's the class president of their elite private school, and when Sebastian returns from therapy, she's receiving a visit from Mrs. "Bunny" Caldwell (Christine Baranski, who took the role because her daughters were huge fans of Gellar's Buffy series). Mrs. Caldwell's daughter, Cecile (a pouting Selma Blair), is transferring. Will Kathryn take her under her protective wing?

Unknown to Mrs. Caldwell, Kathryn's wing is laced with razor blades. Cecile is the new girlfriend of Court Reynolds (Charlie O'Connell), who just dropped Kathryn after getting a glimpse of her true self -- and Kathryn wants her rival destroyed. She asks Sebastian to seduce the little innocent, but he has his sights on a more challenging target: Annette Hargrove (Reese Witherspoon), the new headmaster's daughter, who has just published an article in Seventeen celebrating abstinence and virginity. Annoyed, Kathryn bets Sebastian that he'll fail (the stakes being his vintage Jag vs. complete access to her body), and lines up another candidate to corrupt Cecile: her cello teacher, Ronald (Sean Patrick Thomas). Meanwhile, Kathryn continues pretending to be Cecile's friend.

Sebastian starts laying his traps for Annette, who is staying at the palatial Long Island estate of his Aunt Helen (Louise Fletcher), but she's been forewarned by someone. Furious, Sebastian blackmails the source out of Annette's friend, Greg (Eric Mabius), a closeted gay football player whom Sebastian arranges to surprise in flagrante with a treacherous queen named Blaine (Joshua Jackson, a long way from Fringe). The informant is none other than "Bunny" Caldwell, and Sebastian tells Kathryn that he's now more than happy to seduce Cecile for her, which he proceeds to do with cold calculation, before turning back to Annette.

Then the impossible happens -- the supposedly heartless lothario falls in love. Sebastian is shocked, but Kathryn is even more so. (Gellar understands this character perfectly; she gives Kathryn a face like someone punched her in the stomach.) In a romantic comedy, this would be a happy moment. In Cruel Intentions, it triggers a cascade of disasters.

I've seen the film multiple times, including in its first theatrical run, and each time I wonder whether it'll hold together. It always does, because writer/director Kumble and his production team never lost sight of their central subject. Yes, this is a highly stylized, artificial and isolated world, even down to its wardrobe and language; but that's what vast wealth can buy you. Yes, these high school students speak an adult vocabulary describing acts of which their knowledge seems more theoretical than real ("I wanna fuck!" shrieks Kathryn, who sounds like she's describing an exercise class); it's an expression of their essential boredom with a life in which everything is antiseptically easy. ("I'm sick of sleeping with these insipid Manhattan debutantes!" exclaims Sebastian. "Nothing shocks them anymore.") The only experience that quickens the pulse for these kids enough to make them feel alive is the sensation of bringing another to heel; hence the incessant power games. Sure, their cruel behavior looks tawdry, offensive and cheap, but so does a lot of socially acceptable adult conduct when it's stripped of its usual disguises and played out by children. (Consider how unappealing Gordon Gekko's seductively competitive greed appeared when it was enacted by the youthful Sean Parker in The Social Network.)

You have to admire Kumble's honesty (and his daring). He took a pedigreed literary source, then systemically dispensed with every element that might have allowed his film to claim some shred of that source's respectability. Out went the period setting, the high-toned language, the costume drama: everything that might have given Cruel Intentions the slightest hint of a "prestige" picture. All he retained was the inexorable logic of vicious people doing nasty things. "Before we go through with this, I just want to make you aware of the damage we're about to cause", Sebastian says to Kathryn at one point. She pauses for a second in mock thought: "I'm aware." And she is.

Cruel Intentions Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

Even though Cruel Intentions is set in modern times, Kumble wanted its visual design to emphasize the rarefied world in which its characters exist. He asked Dutch cinematographer Theo van de Sande to give the film a rich period look unlike anything van de Sande had shot since leaving his native country to shoot comedies such as Wayne's World in America. The 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray reproduces van de Sande's velvety textures with superb detail but no artificial sharpening, ringing or edge enhancement. Sony's commitment to film-like transfers is evident even in this early Blu-ray release, with its solid black levels, excellent color rendition and lack of any compression or other artifacts. Van de Sande says at one point in the "Creative Intentions" featurette that the film's visual philosophy was "everything beautiful except the story itself". The Blu-ray conveys that achievement.

Cruel Intentions Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

The DTS lossless track reproduces the film's 5.1 mix with good fidelity, but it's a largely front-centered mix with little in the way of surround activity. Dialogue and music are the key elements. The dialogue remains firmly anchored to the center and is always intelligible. The music consists of moody, atmospheric underscoring by Ed Shearmur (an earlier score by John Ottman, who is still listed in the credits in the film's trailer, was rejected), and songs by artists including Fatboy Slim, Aimee Mann, Counting Crows, Placebo and Marcy Underground.

Cruel Intentions Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

 

The extras have been ported over from the 1999 "collector's edition" DVD. Only the trailer has been omitted, consistent with Sony's frequent practice on Blu-ray.

• Commentary with Writer/Director Roger Kumble, Producers Neil Moritz and Heather Zeegen, Cinematographer Theo van de Sande, Production Designer Jon Gary Steele, Costume Designer Denise Wingate and Composer Ed Shearmur: Kumble repeatedly protests (too much!) that he was a first-time director who had no idea what he was doing, but his ability to lead a large group of people effectively is demonstrated in this group commentary that remains focused and informative throughout the film's running time.
  
  Much of the discussion is directed at the techniques of achieving the film's glossy style on a limited budget. The concept was to give the film a "period" look without being obvious about it. Thus, the formality of the costumes; the prevalence of antique furniture; the use of rotary phones; Sebastian's classic car. However, anything that called too much attention to itself was forbidden. Composer Ed Shearmur notes that he was told never to use a harpsichord in his score.
  
  Kumble offers numerous observations on the actors' performances. Of particular interest are his observations on Witherspoon and Phillippe, who were a couple during filming, and used their rapport to develop the relationship between Annette and Sebastian. This ultimately deepened the scene, but was hard on the actors when they had to perform Sebastian's brutal break-up.



• Deleted Scenes (SD; 1.85:1, non-enhanced; 17:44): There are six scenes in all. Most have introductions by Kumble explaining why they were dropped; those without introduction are slightly longer versions of existing scenes. The most notably consistent thread running through the deletions is the extent to which overt violence and hostility were toned down, in favor of attitude and implied threat. The scenes in which (a) Sebastian blackmails Greg over his homosexuality, (b) Kathryn taunts Sebastian when he comes to "collect" on the wager, and ( c) Kathryn incites Ronald to attack Sebastian, were all more overt and ugly in their original versions. Kumble speaks about losing the audience's sympathy, but the original versions would also have shattered the controlled tone that sustains the film's illusion of an alternate universe in which these events play themselves out.



• The Making of Cruel Intentions (SD; 1.33:1; 5:56): This is an EPK-like featurette featuring interviews with Kumble, Moritz and the principal cast. It's entertaining but not particularly deep.



• Creative Intentions: Finding a Visual Style (SD; 1.33:1; 21:39): This more substantive featurette focuses on the creative contributions of the cinematographer, costume designer and production designer. Though there is overlap with the commentary track, the featurette gives each department head an opportunity to discuss his or her background and provide a general overview of their approach to the film.



• Music Videos (SD; 7:29): Marcy Playground, "Coming Up from Behind" (1.33:1); Placebo, "Every Place You Go" (1.85:1)

Cruel Intentions Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

 

In its own day, Laclos' "classic" novel was not considered a classic. Indeed, even though it sold well, it was generally regarded as trash. Classic status came much later. So it's ironic when people dismiss Cruel Intentions as a pale imitation of great works like the original novel, or the Frears film (which is so entertaining precisely because Frears and his cast understood that they were making a juicy costume soap opera) or the 1989 Miloš Forman-directed Valmont (which has its moments but is frankly quite dull). Cruel Intentions fits right in with its predecessors in exploiting Laclos' geometrically precise plotting to show us yet another face of cruelty. In this version, unlike in the Frears film, the word most definitely does not have a nobler ring to it.

• The Best Intentions - Den goda Viljan

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Nov 15, 2009