Marquis

On the eve of the revolution, Marquis waits in the Bastille to be judged, accused of plotting against the state. In his cell he writes. His only interlocutor is his own genitals: Colin, a talking being who constantly wants action and is bored by stories. Outside, revolutionaries and royalists each try to pull the pair to their side. There is also a prisoner in the jail who has been made pregnant, and the blame is to be put on him. In the film by Henri Xhonneux and Roland Topor every character performs in an animal mask: Marquis is a dog, the jailer a rat, the victim a cow. Topor designed the masks. Some passages are given in clay animation. The narrative uses Sade's own writing directly and does not sanctify the revolution either; both sides are shown as equally rotten. Who it's for: Viewers who like experimental animation, black humour, and unusual forms. Who it's not for: The sexual content is constant and direct. The visual design will also repel some viewers.