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(out of 5)

Excellent drama about the Marquis de Sade’s influence on the keepers and inmates of the madhouse Charenton, where he spent his last days after being declared criminally insane by French authorities. Geoffrey Rush lives it up as the Marquis, and Kate Winslet is letter-perfect as the charwoman he adores for her innocence. The issues of censorship and its backward application by authoritative figures is the message here, and it is executed gracefully by Philip Kaufman’s sure direction and performances by the ensemble cast, particularly Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix as the noble-hearted priest who runs the asylum. It is better than the other film about the Marquis made the same year, Benoit Jacquot’s Sade, but in that film its star Daniel Auteuil made a better lead. This film has some very explicit content that is at the same time shocking and refreshingly honest.

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Industry Entertainment, Walrus & Associates, Hollywood Partners

USA/Germany/United Kingdom, 2000

Directed by Philip Kaufman

Screenplay by Doug Wright, based on his play

Cinematography by Rogier Stoffers

Produced by Julia Chasman, Peter Kaufman, Nick Wechsler

Music by Stephen Warbeck

Production Design by Martin Childs

Costume Design by Jacqueline West

Film Editing by Peter Boyle

Academy Award Nominations
Best Actor in a Leading Role (Geoffrey Rush as “The Marquis de Sade”)
Best Art Direction (art direction: Martin Childs; set decoration: Jill Quertier)
Best Costume Design (Jacqueline West)

Golden Globe Award Nominations
Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama (Geoffrey Rush)
Best Screenplay (Douglas Wright)