Brilliant in every way. A film of a play about a play put on by the inmates of the Asylum of Charenton in France, 1808, as directed by the Marquis de Sade (played by Patrick Magee). Filmed plays are often criticized for their staginess, but this one quite requires that feeling. The actors are separated from the audience, which appears from time to time, by metal bars, which also appear from time to time. Most of the film takes place in the middle of the play, with the lunatics seeming dangerously in our faces. The man who runs the asylum sits on the side (behind the bars) and occasionally walks out onto the stage to calm his residents down, or to castigate the Marquis for including certain undesirable notions in his play. The subject of the play is the nature and importance of human cruelty as demonstrated by the French Revolution (which ended some 15 years earlier), but which continues on, even to the present, far beyond the actual setting of the play. About a thousand ideas are thrown out throughout the film, and it's difficult to catch them all. It's the kind of movie that sets the head reeling, and it made me want to watch it again ASAP. The actors are all brilliant. Besides Magee, Glenda Jackson deserves special praise for her performance as the narcoleptic inmate who plays the executioner of Marat. I didn't mention that other name in the title because I am unfamiliar with the historical character. I understood the gist of his role in the Revolution, but I'd like to learn more before I rewatch the film. Peter Brook's direction is fantastic; he kept my heart rate up throught the entire film. I'm thinking about getting the DVD, especially if it has subtitles. It is sometimes difficult to understand the dialogue, and almost impossible to understand the song lyrics. Oh, did I mention it was a musical? 10/10.
Review of Marat/Sade
