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De Sade

Play trailer Poster for De Sade R Released Aug 27, 1969 1h 53m Biography Play Trailer Watchlist
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10% Tomatometer 10 Reviews 24% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
The 18th-century French marquis (Keir Dullea) recalls his sadomasochistic experiments and goes to jail for lewd behavior.
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De Sade

Critics Reviews

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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

Audience Reviews

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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
De Sade

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Cast & Crew

Lenny 87% 88% Lenny Watchlist Andrei Rublev 96% 93% Andrei Rublev Watchlist Heart Beat 20% 40% Heart Beat Watchlist Camille Claudel 91% 88% Camille Claudel Watchlist The Sicilian 10% 42% The Sicilian Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis The 18th-century French marquis (Keir Dullea) recalls his sadomasochistic experiments and goes to jail for lewd behavior.
Director
Charles De Latour
Producer
Samuel Z. Arkoff, James H. Nicholson
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
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