The Marquis de Sade befriends the liberal director of the asylum, The Abbe du Coulmier, and both share affections with the asylum laundress, Madeleine. Madeleine is a nubile but virginal young woman profoundly attracted to the mental prowess of the clever and wickedly defiant inmate who willingly smuggles his banished texts out of the asylum. But, when Napoleon reads "Justine", one of Sade's anonymous texts, he sends in Dr. Royer-Collard, a cruel and moralistic man, to "cure" the Marquis of his supposed madness. However, the battle between the moralistic doctor and Sade only provokes the prisoner's rebellious spirit, resulting in a horrifying tragedy.

Director: Philip Kaufman
Writer: Doug Wright (play and screenplay)

Cast:
Kate Winslet ... Madeleine 'Maddy' LeClerc
Geoffrey Rush ... The Marquis de Sade
Joaquin Phoenix ... The Abbe du Coulmier
Michael Caine ... Dr. Royer-Collard
Billie Whitelaw ... Madame LeClerc
Patrick Malahide ... Delbené
Amelia Warner ... Simone
Jane Menelaus ... Renee Pelagie
Stephen Moyer ... Prouix, the Architec

Released on: November 22, 2000

Posters, Promotional Stills, On the Set, Screen Captures and DVD Featurettes captures

Doug Wright's play won an Obie Award.

The Marquis de Sade's written works remained banned in France until the mid-1960s.

The real Abbe du Coulmier was a four-foot-tall hunchback.

The Marquis de Sade was the originator of the term "sadist": one who receives sexual satisfaction from the infliction of pain on others.

The Marquis de Sade died in the Charenton Asylum in 1814.

Michael Caine told the New York Daily News in January 2001, "It looks serious onscreen, but the more serious the subject, the more funny it is on the set. When things are too bizarre to contemplate as a human being, you have to deal with it with a sense of humor".

The tune that The Marquis de Sade keeps humming throughout the film is the French children's song "Au Clair de La Lune", the second line of which becomes increasingly relevant - roughly translated, it is "lend me your quill so I can write a word".

Though the events in the film are based on reality, they have definitely been "tarted up" as the opening disclaimer says. In real life, The Marquis' second wife, Marie-Constance Quesnet, was living with him at Charenton, along with their daughter. He did carry on an affair with Madeleine LeClerc, although Madeleine was thirteen at the time. And contrary to Geoffrey Rush's physical appearance, the real Marquis was, by this point in his life, extremely obese.

Geoffrey Rush directed the play that the asylum residents put on.

The works of de Sade read out in the film were actually written by Doug Wright.

Every single line from the script that was cut made it into the film either written on de Sade's clothing, the bed sheets or in his prison cell at the end.

The prop department asked for details of de Sade's diet so that they could get the consistency of mixture of the "ink" in the final scene.

The actors playing the inmates all had their characters diagnosed with genuine mental illnesses by a psychiatrist.

The rosary that appears in the film, which de Sade uses to commit suicide, is made out of light and dark chocolate.

"I have that naughty, cheeky side of her [Madeleine's] nature."

On getting whipped: "And it really bloody hurt. We had a fake whip, but the guy had to use some force so it looked real. I'm really bad at saying, 'No, I'm not going to put myself in this position'. I did my usual, 'This is fine'. Ridiculous, but i helps to give some genuine reaction to being whipped."

"...Funny, engrossing and unpredictable... Rush gives a towering portrayal of one of the most infamous men in history..." — Movieline - Stephen Farber

"...Geoffrey Rush [plays] Sade as a gleeful voluptuary unfettered by either morality [or] sentimentality... Mr. Kaufman revels in the chaos... Ms. Winslet's shrewdness as an actress has never been better displayed than it is here..." — New York Times - Elvis Mitchell

"...Rush relishes his role... Winslet captures both the beauty and the spirit of the character..." — Box Office - Annlee Ellingson

"...[Rush] runs with it. It's a brave, take-no-prisoners performance... Winslet manages to instill nice complexity.. as does Phoenix..." — Hollywood Reporter - Michael Rechtshaffen

"...Entertaining... Absorbing..." — Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert

"[T]he film raises strong questions about literary freedom and the suppression of ideas." — Premiere - Andy Webster

"Kaufman rewards our seduction by sauce and wit with a final act of nightmare farce." — Uncut - Nick Hasted