Cheap Quills (DVD) (Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine) (Philip Kaufman) Price

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Customer Reviews of Quills

Geoffrey Rush is marvelous and shines (no pun intended) as the Marquis de Sade, whom he plays as a deliciously salacious, old reprobate with a highly droll sense of humor. Joaquin Phoenix deftly plays the part of the young Abbe Coulmier, a tortured soul who is trying to fulfill his duties as a priest, while trying to resist his attraction to the virginal asylum laundress, Madeleine, beautifully acted by the earthy and talented Kate Winslet. Michael Caine plays the part of the evil Dr. Royer-Collard, who assumes control of the asylum after Napoleon becomes incensed at the licentiousness of the prose being published by the asylum's high profile inmate.

The story takes place in France at the turn of the eighteenth century in the gothic and forbidding Charenton asylum in which the notorious Marquis de Sade resides as an inmate. The asylum is run by Abbe Coulmier, who oversees the asylum with a gentle hand and believes that self-expression through artistic venues prevents the inmates from acting out those behaviors that got them sent to the asylum in the first place. It seems a serene, almost idyllic, well run place, with a relatively contented population.

Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of the Marquis is brilliant, and he makes the most of the often witty dialogue that the screenplay has provided. As a slightly rumpled member of the nobility, he lives in the asylum in faded splendor, writing sexual fantasies that he may no longer act out. Secretly assisted by the laundress, Madeleine, who ensures that his bawdy, sexually explicit, salacious stories reach a publisher, his prose becomes the toast of France, whose citizens eagerly await a new offering by the Marquis. His published story, "Justine", is ultimately read to the Emperor Napoleon, who decides that the asylum needs someone who will quell the Marquis.

Enter Dr. Royer-Collard, a doctor given to the use of an Iron Maiden and a water dunking apparatus to "cure" those unfortunate, disaffected, and mentally ill individuals who come under his "care". It is he who is sent to the asylum and ultimately wrests control from the beleaguered Abbe Coulmier, who is wrestling with his own demons and does not, at first, see what is coming down the pike.

Under Dr. Royer-Collard's administration, the asylum undergoes a change. It becomes more repressive. The more repressive it becomes, however, the more the Marquis demands to be heard. The more he demands to be heard, the more repressive the asylum becomes. It becomes a vicious cycle, with issues of power and control dominating.

Invariably, the Marquis rebels against this repression. His rebellion initially manifests itself by tweaking the doctor. The Marquis tweaks him once too many times, however, and in a most public fashion. This incurs the doctor's wrath. As the doctor gains total control of the asylum, sadistic practices mask themselves as treatment. This, however, does not stop Madeleine from doing all she can to get the Marquis' writings to his adoring public, to her ultimate dismay.

The Marquis continues to write, even as his paper, quills, and ink, are removed, resorting to using wine, blood, and even feces to write on sheets, his clothing, and the walls which imprison him. He simply will not be silenced.

Meanwhile, the good Abbe Coulmier is out of his league. Torn by his love and desire for Madeleine, as well as by his own impotence in the face of Dr. Royer-Collard's policies and practices, he begins his own seeming descent into madness. When he finally realizes that the bland and benign countenance of the doctor hides a malignancy greater than that which he had encountered among the inmates of the asylum, it is far too late.

The film is really an allegory, and there it succeeds brilliantly. As entertainment, however, I found it to be too dark and depressing to fully enjoy it.

Delicious dramatic period piece from Philip Kaufmann.
While I can't help but laugh at the fact they made the Marquis de Sade the central character in a story about artistic expression and sexual repression, I can understand why. Here is a man who wallowed in excess, seeming unconcerned with the weight of his decisions, his only escape and expression the very thing that caused his downfall. The Marquis de Sade was not a martyr for freedom of speech. He was a seriously disturbed individual whose callous disregard for mankind (he thought murder should be a privilage for the rich) was reflected in his writing. But here he is a curious old coot, with a marvelous sense of humor and a deeply hidden soft side. But Geoffrey Rush's performance makes it all easier to swallow. He is a brave actor (appearing completely nude in several scenes) who loves to portray wounded characters and he simply shines. Kate Winslet (likewise great and brave) plays the innocent laudry maid Madeleine who secretly sneaks the Marquis' writing out of the asylum where he is kept and into the arms of a publisher. When these writings reach the hands of Napoleon, the emperor sends an accomplished doctor, Royer Collard (the great Michael Caine), to silence him, undermining the authority of the asylum's resident priest (Joaquin Phoenix), who sees Sade as a creature who must be saved and who NEEDS to write in order to clean his soul. The film is filled with sexual energy, reaching certain points of eroticism that recall director Philip Kaufman's earlier masterpiece 'The Unbearable Lightness Of Being'. This is a beautiful film, nicely detailed and extremely playful. It is also dark and grisly, nothing too graphic yet certainly unsettling at times. I suppose, if nothing else, 'Quills' does stand as a 'freedom of speech' movie. I look at it as a film which simultaneously acknowledges our fasination with sex and spanks us for our dirty thoughts. But it ultimately reminds us that we all have a right to be heard and that everything has an audience. And if you've just finished watching this movie, well then thank you for helping me prove that point.

RECIPE FOR A FIERCE BUT INTOXICATING COMIC ROMP
Take a controversial character, for instance, an infamous French aristocrat who writes fearlessly explicit pornographic tales from his asylum jail cell to which he has been consigned for committing violent crimes of passion.

Cast a maniacal Geoffrey Rush in that role, and use him with more than a pinch of artistic license, to philosophically discuss censorship and freedom of expression in art. Tipped in water-tight dialogue and a dramatically dark ink.

Throw in some action and intrigue, for example, our incarcerated prisoner having to smuggle his lurid works out of the asylum via a sweet, innocent maid who gains vicarious pleasure from reading the stories to self and others.

Of course, a dash of morality never hurt, so add a holier-than-thou priest who brings to the table a fresh aroma of common sensibility.

Stir well and add spice to taste. Viewers will revel in the mind play between the sordid characters you have created and be aghast at the depths to which it is possible for them to stoop. There, you have a marvel of a film that'll be seen again and again.

Quills is without reservations a fascinating cinematic masterpiece of our time, in every sense of the word, and deserves a warm place in every self-respecting film collection.