De Sade

R

Released Aug 27, 1969

1h 53m

Biography

List

10%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

25%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

The 18th-century French marquis (Keir Dullea) recalls his sadomasochistic experiments and goes to jail for lewd behavior.

Read More

Read Less

Watch on Prime Video

Stream Now

Prime Video

Watch De Sade with a subscription on Prime Video.

Audience Member

very avant-garde very

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Your weakness made you deserve every punishment you received. De Sade while imprisoned has strange dreams from his time before the asylum. We see De Sade as a boy being molested by the Catholic clergy, then later appear to be happily married. Unfortunately for De Sade, he is a sexually active and a deviant man, who spends numerous hours chasing women, some married, some not married, but mostly whores in brothels. Eventually he is caught and his life is turned upside down, leading to the events of the dreaming old man in a cell. "Something guaranteed to tear your heart from your soul." Four director collaborate to deliver De Sade. This storyline is part story and part elongated orgies and long kinky sex sequences. You see De Sade was more worried about self pleasure and self fulfillment than responsibility. It made for an interesting style of film. The cast includes Keir Dullea, John Huston, Lilli Palmer, Senta Berger and Anna Massey. "Don't you ever, ever say enough to me." I am a huge John Huston fan and this movie came up when I was looking at his films. I knew he didn't direct it but I decided to watch it anyway when I came across this on Netflix. Well, this was all over the place and lacked a consistent feel and direction. There were parts of this that was worthwhile, but not enough to recommend it. I'd skip this. "You cannot change and your promises mean nothing. The devil owns you." Grade: C-

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Despite the fact that Richard Matheson wrote the script (which he had problems with the director), I didn't find this that interesting. I'm a fan of Marquis De Sade's writing, but I thought this seemed very tame in comparison to what he actually wrote. Then again, even in this day and age, things seem very tame compared to what he wrote. This just made him look like some kind of devious swinger and didn't go into the fact that De Sade wasn't just into women. He was into everything depraved there is. The fact that this movie shows De Sade sitting in prison asking for forgiveness is a real betrayal of the true man. De Sade actually kind of liked being in prison and would never ask for forgiveness for anything he'd done.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/25/23

Full Review

Audience Member

SZArkoffs take on DeSades life. One too many pairs of boobs, but enjoyable nonetheless. KDullea was as sexy as always.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Interesting account of the Marquis with Senta Berger ('Major Dundee" yummy yummy) and Keir Dullea (2001 A Space Oddessy) before he shot himself. John Huston (Maltese Falcon, Treasure of Sierra Madre) can act also

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A very romantisized version of the marquis de sade, filled with lots of psychedelic moments. This movie is a must if your a marquis de sade obsessive, plus it doesn't hurt if your a keir dullea fan either.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Charles De Latour

Director

Keir Dullea

Louis Alphonse Donatien, Marquis de Sade

Senta Berger

Anne de Montreuil

John Huston

Abbé de Sade

Lilli Palmer

Mme. de Montreuil

Anna Massey

Renee de Montreuil

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

87%

88%

Lenny

95%

93%

Andrei Rublev

20%

40%

Heart Beat

92%

88%

Camille Claudel

10%

42%

The Sicilian

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Pauline Kael

New Yorker

This porny swashbuckler has been staged like a high-school pageant, and it doesn’t have a spark of real perversity, yet it dabbles in dangerous areas.

Feb 5, 2024

Full Review

Budd Wilkins

Slant Magazine

Cy Endfield’s De Sade is a flawed yet fascinating attempt to penetrate into the headspace of the Marquis de Sade.

May 17, 2022

Full Review

Vincent Canby

New York Times

Not quite as silly as it looks and sounds, but it comes very close.

Rated: 2/5

May 9, 2005

Full Review

Peter Canavese

Celluloid Dreams

In the category of interesting failures. An experimental fantasia of theatrical and cinematic flourishes constantly testing its own narrative coherence. X-rated (1969) but tame by today's standards. (Scorpion Releasing blu-ray).

Rated: 2.5/4

Jul 21, 2022

Full Review

Frank J. Avella

Edge Media Network

Imagine making a dull film about the Marquis de Sade?...De Sade received an X-rating, but boasts some of the least alluring sex scenes ever filmed...only a masochist would enjoy a film that insults both an infamous author and his deviant sexual pleasures.

Rated: F

May 17, 2022

Full Review

Dennis Schwartz

Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews

It was pure torture sitting through this dull version of the life of Marquis De Sade.

Rated: C-

Apr 2, 2011

Full Review

Read all reviews

Synopsis

The 18th-century French marquis (Keir Dullea) recalls his sadomasochistic experiments and goes to jail for lewd behavior.

Director: Charles De Latour
Producer: Artur Brauner, Louis M. Heyward
Screenwriter: Richard Matheson
Distributor: American International Pictures, MGM Home Entertainment
Production Co: American International Productions, Trans Continental, CCC Filmkunst GmbH
Rating: R
Genre: Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 27, 1969, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 1, 2016
Runtime: 1h 53m
Sound Mix: Mono

Most Popular at Home Now