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:

There are no bad words... only bad deeds.

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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

The prop department asked for details of de Sade's diet so that they could get the consistency of mixture of the "ink" in the final scene.

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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: Don't come any closer Abbe, God's watching.

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Connections

References Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom (1975)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Interesting...

This was a good movie, but I thought it had somewhat of an unsatisfsying ending (well, to me anyway). Sad too. It moves nicely, though and you don't want to be interrupted. It can get rather graphic at times, but that's mainly because of the subject material, I guess. Geoffrey Rush is brilliant.He has a real knack for bringing strange and twisted characters to life. Michael Caine is doing his usual job of being superb as well. Every new role Kate Winslet performs is different from the previous and she excels every time. She expresses emotion very well. And my goodness, Joaquin Phoenix. I wouldn't say that I was ever a *fan* of his, but damn, now I am. If there was ever a performance that just made me melt, this was it. The restrained emotions and frustration of unfulfilled desires of his character were just performed brilliantly. This guy's an amazing actor.