As China attempts, tentatively, to become an exporter as much as an importer - witness the Christian Bale-Zhang [Yimou] collaboration "The Flowers of War" last year, which shares a screenwriter with "Liaisons" - remakes are an opportunity to further smooth the way. It's (presumably) a lot easier to sell a cultural product to a Western audience if that product is merely a repackaging of something they already know.

Cannes audiences have been mostly enamored with "Liaisons," giving the film enthusiastic ovations when it premiered earlier this week. Whether a global audience will respond the same way remains unclear. Though there is a familiar arc and a more conventional manner of storytelling than exists in many Chinese period pieces, the film is still ultimately a culturally specific Chinese remake of what was in itself only an art-house hit.