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Marquis (1989, BE/FR)
“My one and only noble point may be found in my bodily appendage, whom I will consult democratically as he is rather whimsical.”
My partner described this as “sadomasochistic furry porn with muppets” and that's basically what it is.
I mean, it's charming, in its way. Trust me when I say that Marquis is the sort of production that would never have seen the light of day in a country like the United States, but luckily for everyone France and Belgium were on top of this. (I’m only being slightly sarcastic.) The characters are essentially muppet-like, and each of them is portrayed as a humanoid animal. The actors themselves simply wear masks, so the characters all have the normal features of humans aside from heads and attached tails and other such details. It’s all very metaphorical and referential to the essential nature of the characters, as well, with De Sade being portrayed as a dog, his skeevy jail guard Ambert as a rat, the greedy Pigonou as a...well, pig, and so on and so forth.
But the fact that everyone in this universe is a bipedal beast is hardly the most unusual feature. No, that distinction would go to the existence of the Marquis’ penis as a primary character with a mind of its own. It’s a literal war of base needs versus intellectual stimulation for poor De Sade. All he desires is to write his prose and lewd stories, but his annoying appendage (named “Colin”) frequently derails his plans with demands of his own. He’s quite a mercurial character, at times serving as an active force in Marquis’ troubles because of his biological need to orgasm and at other times acting as a limiting one. (Turns out that Colin has standards which the Marquis lacks when it comes to sexual encounters. At one point Colin refuses to get hard, so the Marquis has no choice but to fuck Ambert with a lobster tail. Yep. A dog man fucking a rat man with a lobster tail because his cock refuses to get itself up.)
The film is something of an historical piece, as well, taking place in 18th century France while the flames of revolution are all a-stir. De Sade has been imprisoned within the Bastille for acts of blasphemy; but he isn’t alone, as he has various encounters with Dom Pompero, the conspiring camel-headed priest, Justine, the bovine woman imprisoned for (truthfully) insisting that the King sexually assaulted and impregnated her, and Lupino and Pigonou, both of whom are behind bars for more political reasons. The revolutionaries are involved in a scheme to bust Lupino out, but things in the film get very dicey when the goals and lives of the characters criss-cross. Everything comes to a very bloody head when a final jailbreak is masterminded and De Sade manages his escape. In a weirdly symbolic gesture demonstrating the divide between the body and the spirit, De Sade also bids adieu to Colin, who goes off to engage himself in bigger, better, and more hideously depraved acts than ever before, I suppose. An ending any less bizarre would have been a pretty big let-down.
My partner described this as “sadomasochistic furry porn with muppets” and that's basically what it is.
I mean, it's charming, in its way. Trust me when I say that Marquis is the sort of production that would never have seen the light of day in a country like the United States, but luckily for everyone France and Belgium were on top of this. (I’m only being slightly sarcastic.) The characters are essentially muppet-like, and each of them is portrayed as a humanoid animal. The actors themselves simply wear masks, so the characters all have the normal features of humans aside from heads and attached tails and other such details. It’s all very metaphorical and referential to the essential nature of the characters, as well, with De Sade being portrayed as a dog, his skeevy jail guard Ambert as a rat, the greedy Pigonou as a...well, pig, and so on and so forth.
But the fact that everyone in this universe is a bipedal beast is hardly the most unusual feature. No, that distinction would go to the existence of the Marquis’ penis as a primary character with a mind of its own. It’s a literal war of base needs versus intellectual stimulation for poor De Sade. All he desires is to write his prose and lewd stories, but his annoying appendage (named “Colin”) frequently derails his plans with demands of his own. He’s quite a mercurial character, at times serving as an active force in Marquis’ troubles because of his biological need to orgasm and at other times acting as a limiting one. (Turns out that Colin has standards which the Marquis lacks when it comes to sexual encounters. At one point Colin refuses to get hard, so the Marquis has no choice but to fuck Ambert with a lobster tail. Yep. A dog man fucking a rat man with a lobster tail because his cock refuses to get itself up.)
The film is something of an historical piece, as well, taking place in 18th century France while the flames of revolution are all a-stir. De Sade has been imprisoned within the Bastille for acts of blasphemy; but he isn’t alone, as he has various encounters with Dom Pompero, the conspiring camel-headed priest, Justine, the bovine woman imprisoned for (truthfully) insisting that the King sexually assaulted and impregnated her, and Lupino and Pigonou, both of whom are behind bars for more political reasons. The revolutionaries are involved in a scheme to bust Lupino out, but things in the film get very dicey when the goals and lives of the characters criss-cross. Everything comes to a very bloody head when a final jailbreak is masterminded and De Sade manages his escape. In a weirdly symbolic gesture demonstrating the divide between the body and the spirit, De Sade also bids adieu to Colin, who goes off to engage himself in bigger, better, and more hideously depraved acts than ever before, I suppose. An ending any less bizarre would have been a pretty big let-down.