The Narrator
The narrator of the play introduces us to
every member of the cast, tells us what will
happen to each of them, and predicts the
outcome of the play-within-the-play in the
first five minutes. So there is no suspense as
to what will happen to Jean-Paul: he will be
murdered on the third try by a young girl,
disillusioned with the revolution.
But this really isn't the point. As the
presence of De Sade may have suggested,
the whole show is obscene. We look at this
zoo through bars of steel and pity. But
author Peter Weiss has worked the themes
of the play well, and at the end, who are the
insane?
When I came to think of it, this movie
had a lot to say about the world. If only Mr.
Brooks hadn't tried to work this thing out
by out-doing De Sade. I could only take so
much of the spectacle.
