Synopsis
A man prepares himself to be transferred to a detention center and rest home where he will relive one more time the highlights of his youth.
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Cast
- Daniel AuteuilMarquis de Sade
- Marianne DenicourtSensible
- Jeanne BalibarMadame Santero
- Isild Le BescoEmilie de Lancris
- Jean-Pierre CasselLe vicomte de Lancris
- Grégoire ColinFournier
Recommendations
- 80
The A.V. Club
In keeping with his concept that the mind and the body are inseparable, Sade builds to an extraordinarily powerful centerpiece when the two come together, fusing fear and desire, pleasure and pain, innocence and enlightenment. - 80
Washington Post
What an amazing little film. God love the French. They make movies with ideas in them, other than: How many cars can we blow up? - 75
Boston Globe
Sensationalism and doom are not on screen here; Jacquot offers a relatively peaceful moment in Sade's life. - 63
Miami Herald
Is it about a moment in history and how the life of a sexual predator fits into that moment? Or is it just about a director's sexual fantasy? The answers are somewhat fuzzy. - 63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Despite Auteuil's performance, it's a rather listless amble down the middle of the road, where the thematic ironies are too obvious and the sexual politics too smug. - 60
Washington Post
Although the movie adheres more closely to history than "Quills," it lacks dramatic punch and depth. - 60
TV Guide Magazine
Interestingly, the real horror lies in the film's depiction of the era: The sight of guillotined bodies -- naked, headless and dumped under the shady trees of Picpus -- is truly shocking. Rarely has the horror of the Terror been so graphically and effectively evoked. - 60
Salon
If you're looking for thrills, you should know that you have to wade through a good seven-eighths of the movie before Sade does anything remotely disreputable, and even then it's a rather mechanical bit of business that would have been more effective (and more disturbing) if it had been handled with a bit of humor.
