Quills (2000)

In a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor.

Director:

Philip Kaufman

Writers:

Doug Wright (play), Doug Wright (screenplay)

Stars:

Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix

Nominated for 3 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Geoffrey Rush	...	The Marquis de Sade
Kate Winslet	...	Madeleine 'Maddy' LeClerc
Joaquin Phoenix	...	The Abbe du Coulmier
Michael Caine	...	Dr. Royer-Collard
Billie Whitelaw	...	Madame LeClerc
Patrick Malahide	...	Delbené
Amelia Warner	...	Simone
Jane Menelaus	...	Renee Pelagie
Stephen Moyer	...	Prouix, the Architect
Tony Pritchard	...	Valcour
Michael Jenn	...	Cleante
Danny Babington	...	Pitou
George Antoni	...	Dauphin (as George Yiasoumi)
Stephen Marcus	...	Bouchon
Elizabeth Berrington	...	Charlotte

Storyline

The infamous writer, The Marquis de Sade of 18th Century France, is imprisoned for unmentionable activities at Charanton Insane Asylum. He manages to befriend the young Abbe de Coulmier, who runs the asylum, along with a beautiful laundress named Madeline. Things go terribly wrong when the Abbe finds out that the Marquis' books are being secretly published. Emperor Napoleon contemplates sending Dr. Royer-Collard to oversee the asylum, a man famed for his torturous punishments. It could mean the end of Charanton and possibly the Marquis himself.

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Plot Keywords:

asylum | marquis de sade | writer | insane asylum | napoleon | 

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Taglines:

Meet the Marquis de Sade. The pleasure is all his.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexual content including dialogue, violence and language

Details

Official Sites:

Fox Searchlight

Country:

USA UK Germany

Language:

English Latin

Release Date:

15 December 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Letras prohibidas, la leyenda del Marqués de Sade

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$13,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£81,130 (UK) (19 January 2001)

Gross:

ESP 65,173,251 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Industry Entertainment, Walrus & Associates

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Paul Verhoeven was considered to direct this movie.

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Goofs

When Simone is buying her copy of "Justine", the date visible on the cover is MDCCCCVII: 1907. There is one C too many.

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Quotes

Madeleine: [reading from a page] His greast conquest was a woman six decades his senior, and a dozen years deceased. He made love with such vigor that it dislodged her bones, and yet he afforded her the highest compliment he afforded any woman.
[long, suspenseful pause]
Madame LeClerc: Well, go on!
Madeleine: "Well worth the dig!"

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Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Sean Hayes/Shaggy (2001)

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Soundtracks

"Au clair de la lune"
(uncredited)
Written by Jean-Baptiste Lully
Hummed often by Geoffrey Rush

User Reviews

excruciatingly close to brilliance

I haven't written a review on here in a while, but I felt as though I should write a few comments on this particular picture as I have always been fascinated by the Marquis De Sade. Perhaps my expectations were too high going into the theater to watch this film with an kind of unbiased mind, because I was let down. I went expecting what could have been a break-through film, that really could have said a lot about the society we are living in today, but it did not even come near to fulfilling those expectations. As just an ordinary film it was good. The writing was top notch. The performances were all very good, especially Geoffrey Rush who I believe is one of the most under appreciated actors out there today. I can't think of many film stars that can compare to his talent as an actor. The way he plays a character is similar to Peter Sellers, yet much deeper somehow. Geoffrey Rush did not disappoint at all and if anything is going to win an Oscar in this film it will be his performance. The other actors put in adequate performances, with Phoenix, Winslet and Caine seemingly going through the motions of putting in good, but hardly Oscar worthy performances. I should be fair and say that Caine had a couple of scenes that were gems. Also, cheers to newcomer Amelia Warner, I suspect there's going to be a bright future ahead for this young beauty. However, the writing and performances were not enough to make this a great film. What I think was most aggravating was how little we really learned about the Marquis De Sade, at certain points it seemed like he was hated just for being a wicked gossip, while at other times he came off as a dirty old man. The Marquis De Sade was an amazingly complex figure because his ideas were so perverse to the absolute extreme and yet his expression of those ideas was utterly brilliant. We did not see many of those qualities in this film at all. The story of the laundry maid was twisted and changed around, as were a few other characters in this story who were real figures. This made me ask, why couldn't this film simply have told the life of the Marquis De Sade as it was, rather than changing the true story into a fictional one that is far less interesting? At times I almost felt like I was watching "Disney Does De Sade" it was light and fluffy when it should have been provocative and erotic. I don't usually complain about how a film should have been made, but this one could have been much better.