The new Chinese adaptation of "Dangerous Liaisons" takes Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ 18th-century source material to its most sumptuous silliness — I mean that as a compliment.

A gorgeous, big-scale film, set in 1931 Shanghai, it provides juicy roles for China’s Zhang Ziyi and Hong Kong’s Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi — two stars who have weathered big sex scandals in real life, and you wonder if that led to their casting here. It certainly adds an extra layer of fun as the cruel sexual gamesmanship we’re familiar with (through the many film and stage versions) plays out.

‘DANGEROUS LIAISONS’ Not rated Opening today at Consolidated Kahala

The playboy at the center is Xie Yifan (Korean heartthrob Jang Dong-kun; the director, Jin-ho Hur, is also Korean).

The devil on his left shoulder is the promiscuous Mo (Cheung), China’s first female business tycoon — and his former lover. The angel on his right shoulder is Du Fenyu (Zhang, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," "Memoirs of a Geisha"), the young widow of a humanitarian rebel. Mo bets Yifan that he can’t seduce the chaste Fenyu then dump her.

As good as Zhang and Jang are, Chinese-born screenwriter Yan Geling, a former Alameda, Calif., resident, reserves most of the best lines for Cheung, who is making a nice comeback after a recent five-year break. "Men are alike," Mo says. "When they have money and power, they ruin the lives of young women."

And, admiringly at a young ingenue: "Your body is like a work of art."

"Dangerous Liaisons" isn’t necessarily a work of art, but it’s a guilty pleasure for sure.