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Quills
2000
Based on the award-winning play by Doug Wright, this erotic and fantastical drama reconstructs the unknown fate of the Marquis de Sade, the writer and sexual deviant who was imprisoned in Charenton Asylum for the last 10 years of his life. QUILLS is a Gothic period piece from director Philip Kaufman that details the fall of the .. Read more
| Starring | Kate Winslet, Michael Caine, Joaquin Phoenix, Billie Whitelaw |
|---|---|
| Director | Philip Kaufman |
| Genres | Drama |
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Quills
Based on the award-winning play by Doug Wright, this erotic and fantastical drama reconstructs the unknown fate of the Marquis de Sade, the writer and sexual deviant who was imprisoned in Charenton Asylum for the last 10 years of his life. QUILLS is a Gothic period piece from director Philip Kaufman that details the fall of the French Revolution and the subsequent imprisonment of the fallen aristocrat, a notorious free thinker who lived to write with an outstanding creative spirit and provocative sexual appetite. In the film, the Marquis de Sade (Geoffrey Rush) befriends the liberal director of the asylum, Abbe Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), and both share affections with the asylum laundress, Madeleine (Kate Winslet). Madeleine is a nubile but virginal young woman profoundly attracted to the mental prowess of the clever and wickedly defiant inmate who willingly smuggles his banished texts out of the asylum. But, when Napoleon reads JUSTINE, one of Sade's anonymous texts, he sends in Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine), a cruel and moralistic man, to "cure" the Marquis of his supposed madness. However, the battle between the moralistic doctor and Sade only provokes the prisoner's rebellious spirit, resulting in a horrifying tragedy. QUILLS is a deliriously beautiful film that captures the free spirit of the imagination and the powers of undaunted artistic expression. Geoffrey Rush is a marvel as the profane and ingenious writer, strutting and flourishing about his erotically charged cell with awe-inspiring passion and greatness.
| Starring | Kate Winslet, Michael Caine, Joaquin Phoenix, Billie Whitelaw, Geoffrey Rush, Patrick Malahide, Amelia Warner, Stephen Moyer |
|---|---|
| Director | Philip Kaufman |
| Studio | 20TH CENTURY FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 59 mins |
| Certificate | |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Hearing-impaired | English |
| Subtitles | DVD: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish |
| Released | DVD: 29 Oct 2001 Production year: 2000 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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Depending on your point of view, this is either a remarkable testimony to the importance of artistic freedom or the debauched tale of a devilish man: either way it's a considerable cinematic achievement. Geoffrey Rush is perfect as the unrepentant Marquis de Sade, confined to a mental institution and smuggling his “smut” to a publisher care of laundry maid Kate Winslet. When hard-line psychiatrist Michael Caine is sent to oversee the liberal regime of priest Joaquin Phoenix, de Sade has to use all his ingenuity to continue writing. Director Philip Kaufman's multilayered exploration of cruelty, repression and hypocrisy celebrates de Sade's indomitable spirit, while reminding us of the enduring and corruptive power of his imagination. Quills is the work of a master.
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"...Geoffrey Rush [plays] Sade as a gleeful voluptuary unfettered by either morality [or] sentimentality....Mr. Kaufman revels in the chaos....Ms. Winslet's shrewdness as an actress has never been better displayed than it is here..."
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Most helpful member's review
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16 out of 16 people found this review helpful
Not your average costume drama!
A well-made, good-looking, intelligent costume drama with lashings of sex and violence.
Historically accurate? Of course not, but that wouldn't be nearly as much fun. Geoffrey Rush is gloriously over the top as the imprisoned Marquis, Michael Caine perhaps slightly less convincing as his sadistic and hypocritical nemesis.
The sets are marvellous and Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix are excellent as a doomed laundry maid who helps the Marquis and the repressed Abbe she falls for.
This really has everything - action, drama, humour, romance - with some meaningful points to make about writing, freedom and influence as well. -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
[Highly rated reviewer]
had a great deal of potential with the story line
based on the real life memoirs of a once sordid book writer of the nineteenth century the marse de saille was played very well by geoffrey rush as did a younger kate winslett for a change and joaquin phoenix as was michael caine but it became weak in places and way too comidial for a gritty true story set in a far away mental asylum where the lunatics most definately took over all the same funny in places worth the watching
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News and features
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Wacky Joaquin Phoenix
- 26 Mar 2009
Good news! Joaquin Phoenix hasn’t lost his mind. He isn’t hooked on hard drugs (as far as we know). And he isn’t about to give up acting for hip-hop. He’s only joking. That’s my conclusion after belatedly watching the star’s notorious appearance with David Letterman on The Tonight Show last month in its entirety. Like most of us, I had assumed the worst when I read the headlines the morning after the late night broadcast and saw brief clips of the lowlights... Read more
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