neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Sade
	Benoît Jacquot Daniel Auteuil, Grégoire Colin, Marianne Denicourt, Isild Le Besco, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Jeanne Balibar 2000		Although the 2000 film "Quills" conjured up the same notorious personage, "Sade" is an equally striking, cogent look at the life and times of the Marquis de Sade, the author and libertine who pushed the boundaries of erotic literature while he was locked up during the French Revolution. "Sade," with French star Daniel Auteuil in the title role, differs from the more stylized, theatrical "Quills." Interested in historical verity, "Sade" pertains to the period when the Marquis was incarcerated with other aristocrats in Picpus sanitarium — a less horrid fate than his final days, which were chronicled in "Quills." Having gained respite from the guillotine via the efforts of an ex-mistress who is sleeping with a member of the Republican inner circle, Sade tries to ignore the carnage beyond Picpus. The Marquis turns his attentions to teaching the ways of love to another "inmate," a Viscount's unspoiled daughter (Isild Le Besco). He writes and mounts a play using fellow prisoners as actors. But the Terror is never far away.