Le secret de Château Valmont

Well, I thought this was quite good. As a rule, TV mini-series can be pretty hit-and-miss, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one.

A good pre-Friends performance from Courteney Cox, who proves that she can act and a brilliant cast on the whole. Isn't Barry Bostwick just dreamy??

Anyway, if you want to see one book adaptation, then see this one! Go on! See it!

An amazing cast; perfect landscapes, sets and costumes. Set in Pre-WWI, the story begins with one wealthy man's troubled marriage, which leaves him a widower with a son who will become estranged to him thanks to interference from elitist grandparents (Michael York & Hugh Grant, two of my faves -- NO SPOILERS). During his travels following the war, York falls for a young woman from a good family (Lucy Gutteridge) who was inopportunely seduced and ultimately forced to become a type of show girl... who he marries, which leads to the birth of three children whose stories unfold with the Nazi occupation of WWII in the backdrop. The stars survive all forms of trauma, much of it caused by York's estranged son (Grant).

Supporting actors (including several of my faves as well, namely Charles Shaughnessy, Bruce Boxleitner, Barry Bostwick, and Vernon Dobtcheff) really help the leading ladies of the story (Lucy Gutteridge, Mia Sara, and Courteney Cox) pull through quite a lot from the start of the film through it's conclusion.

No Spoilers. Watch the movie.

This drama is the kind you see once and it would stuck for very long time. I watched it when I was like 12 years old...it was in early 90's and the story still stuck.

It actually had very good plot and many great characters, but I guess because a mini-series it too soon. Many of the characters had potential, but underdeveloped- maybe because it had to short. But I still have to admit story itself flow nicely, it makes sit till the end and wait for next episode. Courteney Cox did great in this film. I really love her character, Freddy. And Hugh Grant...gotta love him in here.

I really wish this mini-series would be release again in DVD- I definitely will buy it. Personally I'm not a fan of romance-flick, but still this one I made exception.

i watched this series when i was little (8 or 9) and it had quite an impression on me. my uncle somehow managed to tape it and so i re watched it several times. what i liked best was not the story itself but its historical and geographical background, i mean, Gosh! the movie spans from the beginning of the 20th century to the early 50s, and covers 3 countries France, England, USA. i was greatly impressed by the WWII episode, the "Resistance" and all, fer me it was an excellent prelude to Schindler's list, though the drama is much stronger in the latter. it had beautiful soundtracks and a whole lot of interesting characters. i liked them all but there was one that i loathed!!! Poor Hugh Grand it was the first movie i've seen him in... i can't remember hating a character as much as i hated Bruno. it was yeeeeaaars after when i watched other movies of his and realized that "Hey! That was just a role, you don't have to hate the actor too! lool!"

I watched this when I was quite small as an English channel showed this as a tele-series back in the late 80's or beginning of the 90's in Sri Lanka....

There's not many that I've watched that has been able to take a special person in my memory.... but this was one greaaaaaaat series that I looked forward to seeing every week when it was running in episodes...

To think that I remembered the name upto date and to think that I fell for Hugh Grant at a very young age, when other of my age hardly knew that such a character existed, is amazing... when I read through the cast, I even remembered that his role was "Bruno".

Whats even more surprising is my sudden remembrance of the series in 2004... so many years after watching it for the first time... and this is very reason I'm here seated in front of the comp taking time off a pretty busy schedule to give my thoughts on it....

I simply loved it... and thumbs up for the director of the series and the author (judith krantz) both : ). Pls make more of this kind... so that my daughter would be able to enjoy something similar : )