Marat/Sade

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Marat/Sade

Released Feb 22, 1967

1h 55m

Drama

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93%

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15 Reviews

80%

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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Cole Smithey

ColeSmithey.com

Rated: 5/5

Oct 18, 2008

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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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: Royal Shakespeare Company, Marat Sade Productions
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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