Marat/Sade
Bringing a play to the screen can be quite a daunting task, and sometimes disastrous. This is because stage plays differ from films in the sense that the former are performed in theaters and on stage, and the latter are a product of the camera. However, Peter Brooks manages to adopt a play and make a great movie called Marat/Sade. The play is about the assassination of Marat, a revolutionary figure of the French Revolution, and it is performed by asylum inmates. Therefore, plainly, Marat/Sade is performed by mad men and thus makes the film adaptation a massive challenge. This film can be described as stage play that has techniques of cinema added to it. The cast offer a movingly disturbed performance of the atmosphere at the insane asylum in the 18th century without losing the effect of the original stage play.
There is a minimal use of cinematography, a factor that creates a harsh and surreal effect. There is a variation of the camera work with lingering close-ups and inconsistent camera movement that result in the heightening of unpredictability and the exacerbation of the sense of unconstrained violence that is developing under the surface. Unlike in some films, whereby the audience follows a give linear narrative, in Marat/Sade, the audience is forced to actively participate in making the meaning of the play’s message. The play’s setting, which is in an asylum, agitates the audience at a sensory level, making them to be intellectually and emotionally involved. Marat/Sade is divided into episodes, and all of them are constantly interrupted by political songs, mime, direct audience address and formal debate. The cast often speak in rhyme, break into song and have mental attacks. It is this continuous mixing and interruption that provides the audience with a reminder of the indistinct line between representation and life. Thus, this film manages to utilize several aspects of theater performance in its production.
