60
Washington Post by Desson Thomson
Although the movie adheres more closely to history than "Quills," it lacks dramatic punch and depth.
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50
Too bland and fustily tasteful to be truly prurient, Sade moves along at a reasonable clip, goosed by claps of gothic lighting, solemn chords, and amplified sound effects.
60
Interestingly, the real horror lies in the film's depiction of the era: The sight of guillotined bodies -- naked, headless and dumped under the shady trees of Picpus -- is truly shocking. Rarely has the horror of the Terror been so graphically and effectively evoked.
63
Is it about a moment in history and how the life of a sexual predator fits into that moment? Or is it just about a director's sexual fantasy? The answers are somewhat fuzzy.
42
Entertainment Weekly by Owen Gleiberman
Achieves the near-impossible: It turns the Marquis de Sade into a dullard.
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) by Rick Groen
Despite Auteuil's performance, it's a rather listless amble down the middle of the road, where the thematic ironies are too obvious and the sexual politics too smug.
80
In keeping with his concept that the mind and the body are inseparable, Sade builds to an extraordinarily powerful centerpiece when the two come together, fusing fear and desire, pleasure and pain, innocence and enlightenment.
60
If you're looking for thrills, you should know that you have to wade through a good seven-eighths of the movie before Sade does anything remotely disreputable, and even then it's a rather mechanical bit of business that would have been more effective (and more disturbing) if it had been handled with a bit of humor.
80
Washington Post by Stephen Hunter
What an amazing little film. God love the French. They make movies with ideas in them, other than: How many cars can we blow up?
75
Sensationalism and doom are not on screen here; Jacquot offers a relatively peaceful moment in Sade's life.