Marat/Sade

In an insane asylum, the Marquis de Sade directs Jean Paul Marat's last days through a theater play. The actors are the patients.

Did something like this actually happen? I could imagine the Maquis de Sade putting this sort of thing together, because what else is he going to do with his time? But did they actually allow this? And, of course, the real inmates could not possibly have been such good actors and singers... could they? As others have noted, this film can be enjoyed by anyone but probably has much more significance for those who grasp the politics and philosophy of the French Revolution. To try to fully comprehend the class distinctions and other angles without some background would be a challenge. To say I fully grasped the competing views of the inmates, Sade and the warden would be a lie.

This takes place in 1808 in an insane asylum. The Marquis de Sade (Patrick Magee) puts on a play of an assassination for an audience. He uses the other inmates as actors. Things slowly get out of hand leading to a truly horrifying ending.

I first caught this way back in 1980 at a center for adult education. It was a video of the movie shown for free. The picture was murky and the sound was terrible. Still I sat through it. I just caught it again (over 20 years later) on cable. This time I could see and hear it clearly. I'm not going to pretend that I understand what this is about, aside from the basic premise about a bunch of inmates putting on a play, and I do know it was based on a stage play. Still, I watched all 2 hours. The acting is great across the board but Magee, Ian Richardson and Glenda Jackson (in her major film debut) are exceptional. The movie is disturbing--I realize these are all actors playing roles but they're so good that you believe everything you're seeing. The direction also is masterful--it opens up the play cinematically. It has an R rating but that's mostly for subject matter and a brief nude scene with Richardson. This isn't for everybody--some people will be bored silly by it--but for those who like challenging movies this fits the bill. The ending is very disturbing. I give it a 7.

MARAT/SADE is the film version of a play that arose from an actor's workshop exploring various theatrical theories expressed by French actor-director-writer Antoine Artard, who extolled a style of performance he described as "theatre of cruelty"--which, broadly speaking, consists of an assault upon the audience's senses by every means possible. Ultimately, and although it makes effective use of its setting and the cinematography mirrors the chaos expected of such a situation, the film version of MARAT/SADE is less a motion picture than a record of a justly famous stage play that offers a complex statement re man's savagery.

The story of MARAT/SADE concerns the performance of a play by inmates of an early 1800s insane asylum, with script and direction by the infamous Marquis de Sade. (While this may sound a bit far-fetched, it is based on fact: de Sade was known to have written plays for performance by inmates during his own incarceration in an asylum.) The story of the play concerns the assassination of the revolutionary Marat by Charotte Corday, but the play itself becomes a debate between various characters, all of which may be read as in some way intrinsically destructive and evil. Since all the characters are played by mentally-ill inmates of the asylum (the actor playing Marat, for example, is described as a paranoid, and the actress playing Corday suffers from sleeping sickness and melancholia), the debate is further fueled by their insanity, unpredictability as performers, and the staff's reactions to both their behavior and the often subversive nature of the script they play out.

Patrick Magee as de Sade, Glenda Jackson as the inmate playing Corday (it was her breakout performance), and Ian Richardson as the inmate playing Marat offering impressive performances; indeed, the ensemble cast as a whole is incredibly impressive, and they keep the extremely wordy script moving along with considerable interest. Even so, it will be obvious that the material works better as a live performance than as a film, and I do not recommend it to a casual viewer; its appeal will be largely limited to the literary and theatrical intelligentsia. The DVD includes the original theatrical trailer, but beyond this there are no extras of any kind.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

I just watched the MGM DVD, which is a fine letterboxed transfer. (I also saw the movie a few years after it was released.)

Marat/Sade is an amazingly original and stunningly powerful philosophical and psychological descent into one of the most complex periods of recorded history, the French Revolution, the Terror that ensued, and the rise of Napoleon and his empire. The multi-layered ideas come thick and fast; I had to watch the movie over two nights because there's so much to think about, and some of the words and images are so overwhelming.

Of the Royal Shakespeare Company actors in the film (little known at the time), Glenda Jackson had the most notable subsequent career, but Ian Richardson (Marat) has also done remarkable things (and he's so young here, you may not recognize him).

This is not a movie for casual entertainment, but if you care about history and the deepest questions of good and evil and free will, you'll find much of value here.

The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (1967/Peter Brook) **** out of ****

"He who kills without passion, is a machine."- Marquis de Sade (Patrick Magee)

What does one look for in a film? I suppose it has something to do with personal interest, but the reason why I was fascinated with the film mentioned above, was because of its abnormally large title. As I was strolling through Blockbuster today, I noticed that it carried this film on DVD. And I thought to myself, "Isn't it rare that my local Blockbuster is housing such a rare 60's arthouse film?". So I took advantage of it, and rented the movie. And this is what I found within it...

Never before has a title been so self explanatory. It serves as the film's plot description. It is basically a filmed play about the French Revolution and the last days of Jean-Paul Marat (Ian Richardson). The catch is: It is performed by patients of a mental hospital in France (in 1808). And it is directed and acted in by a famous patient at the hospital: The Marquis de Sade. It is performed to the Administrator and his family, and many local citizens who care to watch. The point of the show is to prove that the hospital's rehabilitation methods are working, but de Sade has a far more ambitious goal than that. And the play is constantly interrupted by the administrator, who feels it should be more "politically correct" for the recent times. But after the second act, the inmates have secretly taken over, and he is forced just to watch in horror, as are we...the audience.

It is very hard to classify this film. At some points, it is a drama. At other points, it is a thriller, mystery, horror, comedy, and even musical (the musical numbers are very strange). But for the most part, it is a two hour history lesson. All the performances are excellent, and haunting (especially Glenda Jackson's performance). The film has a bizarre tone about it, and is easily the most eerie film I have ever scene. When I called it a history lesson, you might have lost interest right then. But, all the actors (especially the narrator who speaks only in rhymes), looks directly into the camera as they speak. It is as if they are talking to you, and as if you are the only one watching. This gives you the feeling that you must sit up and listen, or they will be angry with you.

"Marat/Sade" is the most unique, and most ghostly film I have ever scene. I only recommend it to fans of theater, and of course film buffs. Though the film requires your greatest attention, it is oddly rewarding.

-30-