Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A lovely odd film that is a must see., November 4, 1999
By A Customer
For those of you who love the odd and unusual in a film this is it. It uses puppetry and animation to distrubing effect. The puppets are amazing. There are very adult themes with some very twisted dream scenes,but it is done well. The characters are interesting and very human even though in appearance they are all animal. It is a very different view on the Marquis DeSade's life and fame. Most of the story is of his imprisoned and shows him sympatheticly. It is a film that you won't forget.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Devious, decadent, and delightful!, March 30, 2000
Somewhere between "The Muppets Take the Bastille" and "Deep Throat". Set in revolutionary France, this story, (very) loosely based on the life and writings of the Marquis de Sade (from whom the word "sadism" is taken from), tells of the Marquis, his plight in prison, and his being framed with a rape charge. In a most unusual twist, de Sade is depicted not as a demonic sex addict, but as an imprisoned free-thinker and libertarian.The film uses puppets, clay animation and actors in elaborate animal masks to sell the story in allegorical terms. This is NOT for the kids, nor will you find this in your local Blockbuster. The film's sexual content (very mild, compared to the usual porn flick) caused this film to be distriibuted to the "art house" circuit during it's brief USA release. If you can appreciate a ribald sense of humor as well as the Marquis' writings (and if you don't, you wouldn't be reading this review), buy this tape and cherish it. A film like this would never had been made in the USA! (Note: This film caused a small scandal in France because one of the puppeteers who helped design the masks and costumes worked on a French children's show along the lines of "Sesame Street".)
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"FRENCH DICTATION", July 30, 2001
By A Customer
BRILLIANT! This is perhaps the best and most effective approach to our beloved Marquis! I expected something slightly different - a puppet version?? No, No, No! This is by far more sophisticated and effective. It's the Brechtian approach -humans behind the animal faces, in some cases, animal anatomy, it is alll quite SUCCESSFUL. This technique removes the viewer from the obvious, makes you look and digest. NOT FOR CHILDREN or the PRUDE, this refreshing, funny, moving and delightful work, it's champagne with sherbet. It's deSades adventures in the Bastille [that infamous prison] and his conversations with a specific and graphiclly "portrayed with intelligence" bodypart. DeSade is beautifully voiced by Francois Marthouret, and "gestured" by Philippe Bizot. [The other two movies, "Quills" and "Marat/Sade" are successful on their respective levels, but this one exposes more of the man some of us tend to be so curious about. This won't disappoint you!]
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DVD ~ Malcolm McDowell
