Quills

Rating:
Summary: So Repulsive That Other Merits Couldn't Make Up Difference
Review: I probably haven't seen a movie that personally repulsed me this much since Ken Russell's "The Devils." In all honesty I can't say that it isn't well acted, well written and well directed. Ordinarily that is more than enough for me. However, I don't need the point of freedom of artistic expression hammered home to me in such nauseating detail. Rush as the Marquis de Sade needs to keep writing his erotica but faces repression at every turn is the essence of the plot. He will thus use anything (as pen, ink and paper) and anyone. Kate Winslet as the virginal laundress, who is enthralled by his work and lured into his web, is up to her usual excellence. Joaquin Phoenix, as the priest in charge of this facility of possible madmen, shows once again that he can salvage just about any movie single handedly. Michael Caine is unfortunately wasted as the doctor seeking to repress de Sade. His is the most predictible and hackneyed part. If thoroughly repulsing the viewer is the test of acting talent, and I can see where it is arguable that it might be, Geoffrey Rush succeeds beyond measure. If you have a stronger stomach than mine, you may well love this film.

Rating:
Summary: And the Oscar should have gone to ... this movie & Mr. Rush!
Review: Pornographers make unlikely poster boys for the freedom of expression. This is true in the age of Larry Flint as much as it was true 200 years ago, at the times of the grandfather of all hardcore pornographers, the Marquis de Sade; and any movie addressing this particular issue will find itself walking a tight rope. Philip Kaufman, a veteran of the genre, succeeds admirably; albeit using a script which somewhat bends de Sade's biography and leaves out the more graphic details of his writings (thus, however, also neatly avoiding another NC17 rating, which would have been sure to follow otherwise). But portraying every aspect of "Justine" or any other of the Marquis's brainchildren is not crucial to this movie - in fact, it virtually banks on the fact that its viewers have either read de Sade's works or heard about them, thus instantly placing its audience on equal terms with the members of the society in which the Marquis lived, which oftentimes loudly condemned his works while at the same time clandestinely gobbling them down or, like Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine), sent on imperial orders to Charenton to forever "cure" de Sade's "disease," practicing his preachings instead of their own.

This movie deserves five stars for Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of the Marquis alone. Taking up yet another challenging role, he becomes Kaufman's and script writer/playwright Doug Wright's de Sade as perfectly as no one besides him could have done. We see an aging Marquis who, although locked up in his cell in Charenton, is as arrogant by birthright as he is by nature; and thoroughly convinced of his own superiority, has tricked himself into an "I'm only here because I allow you to do this to me" attitude. Having heretofore shamelessly exploited the lack of control exercised by the asylum's resident priest, Abbé Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), de Sade initially thinks nothing of the risk inherent in exposing Royer-Collard for the hypocrite that he is, thereby however ensuring the doctor's enmity even more thoroughly and quickly than he would have been sure to gain it anyway. A battle of power ensues that de Sade cannot possibly win, or so it would seem - although he finds endless ways of beating back every new measure of repression he is subjected to.

Intertwined with the battle about de Sade's freedom to write (and more importantly, to publish) is his and the Abbé's battle for Madeleine (Kate Winslet), the Marquis's ally in the publication of his writings as much as she is Coulmier's prodigy and pupil. Madeleine is in many respects the personification of the qualities each of the two men stands for; but more than that, she is the object of both of their unfulfilled desires. Ultimately, knowing that he has lost all his battles, chained to a prison wall and the Abbé at his throat, challenging the Marquis to admit that he loved Madeleine and to lay bare the weakness he had so striven to hide, de Sade tries to win yet one more time; disdainfully attempting to turn the exchange with the Abbé into the ultimate male spitting contest and thus exploit the limitations imposed by Coulmier's priesthood. But it is at the expense of a lie, and Coulmier sees through him. And whereas the Abbé soon thereafter comes face to face with his own demons, the Marquis is left with nothing but a final, desperate, equally abominable and grandiose act of rebellion.

While Geoffrey Rush alone would have carried the film even with lesser actors by his side, it certainly helps to see him paired up with Winslet, Phoenix and Caine and a well-chosen cast of supporting actors; not to speak of the outstanding cinematography. There may be plot twists that seem far-fetched (such as the "liberation" of Royer-Collard's convent-raised teenage wife Simone by de Sade's writings, and her running away with a handsome interior decorator), but ultimately, none of that is crucial to the movie's central conflict. Superb acting and direction more than make up for whatever minor flaws one might detect in the plot (and even for the license Kaufman and Wright are taking with biographical facts, something I am not always quick to forgive). The screen positively explodes every time Rush and Phoenix face off, and it crackles with tension and barely repressed desire in their respective scenes with Winslet. Great actors feed off each other, and in that respect, the movie probably would have benefited from a more direct confrontation between Rush and Caine as well. But even outside the clash of the film's four protagonists, many little scenes are skillfully used to shed additional light on the issues presented. Just think of Napoleon's court reader, feeling duty-bound to ask "Must I, your Majesty?" before proceeding with some of the more gory details of the copy of "Justine" that has fallen into the emperor's hands; or de Sade's wife telling Royer-Collard that the Marquis's greatest crime consisted in making her fall in love with him. - This movie would have deserved every Academy Award it was nominated for, hands down. Given its subject matter, however, it is anybody's guess why it didn't even win one of them.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliance!
Review: The intrique of the Marquis de Sade is very difficult to project onto cinema, but I believe this is one of the most well-written screenplays that I have seen in a long time. With a script that carries both the witticisms and brilliance of Shakespeare and the terrific cast, Quills has quickly become my #1 recommendation for this year.

If you don't like period pieces, you may have difficulty with this movie and if you don't know who the Marquis de Sade is, you may be amazed at how racy yet subtle the dialogue can be.

Geoffrey Rush makes an excellent Marquis, Kate Winslet re-establishes herself as someone to watch, Joaquin Phoenix's passion carries you away, and you walk away hating Michael Caine.

Go see this movie!

Rating:
Summary: A Must-See
Review: Absolutely fantastic- the lack of oscars going to this film was criminal. However, after reading other reviews I should like to point out that Coulmier was not indulging in necrophilia: the viewer was watching his dream in which he believed she had come back to life. Thankyou!!

Rating:
Summary: just listen... he has an impure tale
Review: Is powerfull, confusing, ... , crazy and magnificent. Met the marquis played by Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush now directed by Philip Kaufman in Quills

Rating:
Summary: Deserves every award known to man
Review: This is just a fantastic movie.If you have a dark sense of humour,there are key parts that really make you smile.

All the acting is fantastic in this.The story is great though not 100 percent true(The Marquis was very fat when he died) Every good thing about this movie has been said so i'll stop here.

This is a great film.

Rating:
Summary: "UNDER THE CUCKOOS NEST"
Review: Madame Guillotine's kiss introduces us to Philip Kaufman's excursion into this dank little post-revolution world. Odd moment, the victim, if true to character, should savor every sensual, second of this ceremony. So should the spectators [that's why public executions are banned today.....]. NOW THAT would really have made us squirm - that smile of sated orgasmic pleasure on the now bodiless head, AND that would have slammed the movie with a NC-17, rating if not more! SADISTIC! Sure, that's what it's all about!

FORTUNATELY this version is more or less a sanitized e-ticket through de Sade's "Small, Small World" at "Charentonland" [The Institute of Charenton]. Back then asylums were sometimes considered amusement parks - some amusement for the rich!

Kaufman who broght us "Henry and June", "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" not forgetting "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" - invades us diffently this time. A gradual invasion of the senses.

Joaquin Phoenix, Kate Winslet and Geoffrey Rush are our initial little [platonic] menage a trois. It's all rather mild, Winslet smuggles out the literature penned by de Sade [under covers so to speak]; the naive and passionate Abbe [Phoenix] enjoys the occasional glass with de Sade, while they both eye Winslet with varied degrees of passion {?}, enter Michael Caine as Dr. Royer-Collard sent to "cure" this malignancy [with his very interesting machines....they speak, or silence the speakers, for themselves].

Phoenix dazzles with his talent - a new Tyrone Power! Winslet is perhaps too contemporary for this piece a little too much of the Jean Brodie school, belle poitrines and all.

Mr. Rush - superlative, but something's missing - the actual emptyness inside de Sade? Great performance though. What is he? A Caligula clone? Or - is this too about the freedom[s] of speech and the consequences for being too free.

The lesser characters - Billie Whitelaw as Winslet's mother; Jane Menelaos madame de Sade - both shine, as well as the numerous inmates.

Production values are great - music, sets, costumes, detailed and well-executed. Even Noel Coward would be proud of the witty verbal banter.

Of course, a French production helmed by Polanski starring - Binoche, the Depardieus [father and son - perverse notion - why not?], Delon / Belmondo as the Doctor, not forgetting Moreau - might be conceivable.

EVEN today de Sade makes himself felt around our "more enlightened" world, but he does make us squirm and this from a man who wanted every vestige of his very existence removed from the planet!

"Marat/Sade" by Peter Weiss offers a different vision of the man - and it's also a musical!

Rating:
Summary: can't recommend it
Review: Overall, I found this film to be lacking in character development. I did not care what happened to any of the characters, which obviously dilutes any impact the film may have. The film was lacking in a clear vision of what it was trying to accomplish, and therefore fell flat. I found myself unentertained and completely unmoved.

Rating:
Summary: Quills-a movie worth seeing more than once!!
Review: I rented "Quills" recently because I enjoyed Kate Winslet and Geoffrey Rush's acting skills in other movies. I was'nt disappointed in the slightest, in fact I have recommended it to many others. The acting from everyone is fabulous and without flaw (although I could have lived without seeing Geoffrey Rush naked.) The storyline, a semi-factual account of Sade's stay at Charendon, is fascinating and almost mesmerizing. It made me want to see it more than once, and be anxious for it to come out on Video.

Rating:
Summary: Evilly Sublime
Review: Philip Kaufman has been known for his risque material; it was his "Henry & June" that made the MPAA bring out the now-dreaded NC-17 certificate. With "Quills", whose uneasy mix of sauciness, dark satire and Gothic horror landed it in hot water with audiences and Academy voters, Kaufman arrests the audience's attention with sumputous and disturbing visuals, elaborating on the dangers inherent with speaking one's mind as well as their pleasures.

The film was shot mostly at Shepperton Studios, England, and it shows. The sets of Charenton Asylum are beautiful in their Gothic mastery, with exteriors serving their seductive purposes also. Costumes are absolutely wonderful too (check out the 'suit-turned-manuscript' on Geoffrey Rush's Sade). For the eyes, "Quills" is an absolute treat; for the brain, also, Doug Wright's script is full of witty wordplay at the expense of some of the history, but spends a bit too much time with Michael Caine's hypocritical-but-boring Royer-Collard. Passionate performances all round help immensely: Geoffrey Rush is nothing short of fantastic and brave and it is criminal how Kate Winslet didn't receive an Oscar nomination for her beautiful performance. Joaquin Phoenix follows up his Oscar nomination in "Gladiator" with a subtle turn too, hinting at a perversity that could very well match Rush's demented Sade, sharing a certain chemistry with Rush in a few scenes.

Telling sequences prevade throughout "Quills", building to a finale that is quite unflinching in its treatment of the characters; but then, that's how true allegories work, so don't expect anything resembling a happy ending. Quite brilliant.