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Marat/Sade

Play trailer Poster for Marat/Sade Released Feb 22, 1967 1h 55m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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93% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 80% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
Adapted by Peter Brook from his renowned stage production, this period drama depicts French writer and aristocrat Marquis de Sade (Patrick Magee) directing a performance while institutionalized in an asylum. Relating the death of revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat (Ian Richardson) at the hand of Charlotte Corday (Glenda Jackson, in her first major role), the play, also starring de Sade, sees the disturbed mental patients become increasingly unruly during the course of the story.
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Marat/Sade

Critics Reviews

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Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times Brook has achieved the very difficult. He has taken an important play, made it more immediate and powerful than it was on the stage, and at the same time created a distinguished and brilliant film. Rated: 4/4 Jul 9, 2018 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com …a record of a stage performance rather than a cinematic feature, this is still strong meat, not just for what it says about de Sade, but the revolution in British theatre in the 1960’s…. Rated: 3/5 Sep 13, 2024 Full Review Robert Hatch The Nation Marat/Sade seems to me more theatre than drama. It is perhaps a lesser achievement for that reason, but in the hands of Peter Brook and... the Royal Shakespeare Company, theatre is raised to a height of proficiency that confers its own delight. Nov 23, 2020 Full Review Penelope Houston The Spectator The centre fails to hold, and increasingly the emotive devices of the production seem to be lashing around in an intellectual straitjacket. Jul 9, 2018 Full Review Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews Though not as powerful as the play, even if there's the same director and performers, it still connects with a modern audience. Rated: B+ Jul 1, 2014 Full Review Cole Smithey ColeSmithey.com Rated: 5/5 Oct 18, 2008 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Alec B Finds ways to keep the theatricality of the premise without forgetting its a movie. All of the performances are great here. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/04/24 Full Review Irene M Saw this play at Yale, don't recall as much singing in that production. The acting as phenomenal. At first it's confusing, but then one settles in the rhythm of the "play within the play". The discourse between Sade and Marat is really mesmerizing. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/17/23 Full Review Audience Member As with the play, a grim frenzied descent into madness and the grotesque. It is also a masterpiece. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member I can't deny that this film was somewhat of a chore to get through. It's every bit as unruly and loud as the inmates characters in it. However, the composition of shots is dazzling and serves to both heighten emotion and make us feel the chaos not only within the asylum, but within the narrative told by the inmates themselves. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member Word by individual word, the complete credits of "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade" are stamped out on a blank black screen, and I wonder if this, this production, the whole movie/play, is supposed to be irritating or genius. MARAT/SADE -- a film (Peter Brook, 1967) based on a play (Peter Weiss, 1963) about Sade (French asylum, 1808) overseeing a performance of his own play about Marat (French Revolution, 1792) -- is a funky story. All the different versions blur -- each layer crinkling up, stagey and weird, the flaws of the layer underneath it -- but the performances are almost all strong and curious and cute. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member One of the few musicals I have really enjoyed. Fun, gross, bawdy and outrageous. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/06/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Marat/Sade

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Cast & Crew

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Peter Brook

Director

Ian Richardson

Jean-Paul Marat

Patrick Magee

Marquis de Sade

Glenda Jackson

Charlotte Corday

Clifford Rose

Monsieur Coulmier

Michael Williams

Herald

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Marat/Sade

Marat/Sade (1967) Marat/Sade (1967) Marat/Sade (1967) Marat/Sade (1967) Marat/Sade (1967) A scene from the film Marat/Sade. View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis Adapted by Peter Brook from his renowned stage production, this period drama depicts French writer and aristocrat Marquis de Sade (Patrick Magee) directing a performance while institutionalized in an asylum. Relating the death of revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat (Ian Richardson) at the hand of Charlotte Corday (Glenda Jackson, in her first major role), the play, also starring de Sade, sees the disturbed mental patients become increasingly unruly during the course of the story.
Director
Peter Brook
Producer
Michael Birkett
Screenwriter
Adrian Mitchell, Geoffrey Skelton, Peter Weiss
Distributor
United Artists
Production Co
Marat Sade Productions, Royal Shakespeare Company
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Feb 22, 1967, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 16, 2008
Runtime
1h 55m
Sound Mix
Mono
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