De Sade

It is by no means an ordinary failure. Visible talent went into it, and in fact the most interesting thing about the film is trying to figure out what went wrong. No doubt Richard Matheson's script, which has de Sade dropping in and out of fantasies and memories that may or may not be part of theatrical performances (there's a lot of "may or may not" in this movie) is part of the problem. This complex structure does nothing to add coherence to an opaque character, but in the right hands, say a Roger Vadim or a Mario Bava, it might at least make for a lushly fruity, passably entertaining movie.

I've seen only one other film by "De Sade's" director, Cy Endfield, the outpost-of-Empire adventure film "Zulu." It's a conservative, occasionally handsome bit of film making. Here, he tries all too obviously to make the film "visual," and "stylish," with complex camera movements, shock cutting, disorienting filters, and overripe decor. In the effort to be freewheeling, buxom beauties tumble in and out of de Sade's bed, dwarves deliver his toys on cue, a lot of bric-a-brac gets broken, curtains slashed, paintings burned, repeatedly and endlessly until you can't help wondering if de Sade's problem is simply having too much time and money on his hands. This trash heap of elaborately empty mannerisms proves only that Endfield has no sense at all of what to do with the material.

Keir Dullea turns in as creditable a performance as possible under circumstances that include his total miscasting. That he isn't convincing for a moment is almost a compliment. It's difficult to imagine how he could be any better when you can't think of anyone who *would* be suitable for the part.

When writer, director and cast exhibit the same symptoms of distress, that's a pretty good sign that the film should never have been made. There may be a good movie somewhere in the life of de Sade, but this strained, overcooked mishmash certainly isn't it.


Did we ever really know you Desade?   June 16, 2002
 2 out of 5 found this review helpful

To quote the man himself "I have spanked a few bottoms" Pretty well somes up this film. The review preceeding mine somes up what I have to say about this film. If you are interested in other films I reconmend marat/sade play set in a bathhouse and Quills a pretty strong work of fiction about the man.


from Fringe Video Fanzine Issue #005   June 8, 2002
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Screen writer Richard Matheson [Stir of Echoes (1999); Omega Man (1971)] tells the tale of an elderly Marquis de Sade [played by Keir Dullea / Black Christmas (1974); 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)] laying in his death bed thinking about his life and his struggles for freedom. Twenty-eight of his seventy four years were spent in prison, as he was often "...hounded by the police on charges of inflammatory writings..." Telling the story of de Sade from childhood to manhood through flashbacks and surreal theatre sets; the movie gives a look at the innocent boy who was too often a victim of the "perverse brutality" of others. As he grows, so do his tastes. "...He exacts his sexual pleasure from the tender flesh of the women of France..." Filmed under heavy German guard at the royal palace of Charlottenburg and Saint Nikola's Cathedral in West Berlin the movie's sets and costumes are incredible. Like the Hammer Studios horror films, the movie is more a period piece than pure exploitation, yet it's subject matter alone is irresistible trash for any collector of bad movies. Uniquely a 1960's film, it was aimed at the Samuel Z. Arkoff produced Roger Corman [The Trip (1967) / Wild Angels (1966)] drive-in crowd. Surprisingly low on violence and / or nudity, and any that still remains has been filtered with an annoying purple jel over the camera lens to avoid censorship from the higher ups. Little xtras on the disc besides a trailer and short interview with Richard Matheson. A commentary track would have been interesting, but still grateful that MGM dusted this one off the shelf in the first place. Collectors should be on the lookout for Peter Brook's Marat / Sade (1966) also released on the under the Avant-Garde Cinema collection.