Marat/Sade (1967)

Marat/Sade (The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates at the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade)
Directed by Peter Brook
Written by Geoffrey Skelton and Adrian Mitchell from the play by Peter Weiss
1967/UK
Marat Sade Production/Royal Shakespeare Company
First viewing/YouTube

[box] Herald: The revolution came and went, And unrest was replaced by discontent.[/box]

Director and his stellar cast make compelling viewing of this play within a play within a film.

The long version of the title gives a good summary of the basic plot of the play and movie.  It is 1808 and Napoleon reigns. Aristocrats visit an insane asylum.  Its head and celebrity inmate the Marquis de Sade prepare a play for them.  The ostensible purpose is therapeutic. The oppressed general population serves as a kind of Greek chorus.  All hell breaks loose.  With Patrick Magee as de Sade, Ian Richardson as Marat, and Glenda Jackson, in her first credited film role, as assassin Charlotte Corday.

The film is kind of a Brechtian enterprise, complete with songs, that serves as much as a commentary on the revolution that was brewing in the late 60’s as on the fate of the French Revolution.  The performances are outstanding.  It’s a unique little film and hard to find but I recommend it if the premise sounds appealing and you are in the mood for something avant garde.

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Yesterday, I also watched Night Fright (1967), a movie that should be avoided at all costs.