Search - De Sade on DVD

Dull Sade

Charles S. Tashiro | Agoura Hills, CA USA | 07/28/2002

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Don't be fooled by the AIP pedigree of "De Sade." If you expect something like the inventive charge of Roger Corman's low-budget Poe adaptations, you will be seriously disappointed. For this misguided effort is both expensive and serious enough to manage the dubious achievement of making the Marquis de Sade boring. 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."

Excellent

Charles S. Tashiro | 03/26/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is not a documentary, but it is an excellent example of historical fiction.
Flawed, but still very engrossing and perhaps the most intriguing take on the legendary character.
You may be dissapointed if you want porn and sadism.
If you want a character study that provides insight into the heart, mind, and spirit of a tortured soul this is an excellent film."

U know what.....

tak1 | 06/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'll give it 5 stars! Yep 5 stars! It's not that bad of a movie and you gotta take it for what it is. It's a late 60's psychedlic type of film. Keir Dullea did a pretty good job playing the Marquis. The film tries to stick with the facts of the Marquis' life but at times seems to sway away a bit.
I'm gonna say that we have yet to see an accurate and brilliant film based on the Marquis de sade. Perhaps Benoit Jacquot's Sade would come pretty damn close but I know THE FILM will come in time. And so in the meantime, take De Sade as well as Franco's Justine, and even Quills as fun entertainment.
The only movie that seems to come full cirlce is Pasolini's Salo but that's based on one of The Marquis' writings and not his life. So it doesn't really count.
"