Quills (2000)

3 out of 4

Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine, Amelia Warner, Billie Whitelaw

Director: Philip Kaufman

Time: 123 mins

Quills is one of the more intellectual films to be released in North America late last year. Based on the play by Doug Wright (who also wrote the screenplay), this fictional take on the final years of the life of the infamous Marquis de Sade (whose name gave rise to sadism, as well as being the author of the story on which the notorious film Salo was based) is filled with delicious puns (of the sexual variety) and plenty of psychological warfare conducted between the four main protagonists. It doesn't quite hit the highest of high notes, and the ending seems to drag on a bit too long, but overall the film is an entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking work.

The time is the late 1700s, and the Marquis de Sade (Geoffrey Rush), imprisoned in an insane asylum run by Abbot Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), is expressing his lewd and crude thoughts in writing. His latest novel, Justine, is smuggled out of the asylum by laundress Madeline (Kate Winslet), who relishes the lurid tales spun by the marquis. When published, the novel causes a furore in the upper crust of French society. A Dr Royer-Collard (Michael Caine), noted for his treatments of the insane, is appointed to assist in the running of the asylum where de Sade is housed. The stage is set for an intense battle of wills and quills when de Sade discovers that Royer-Collard lusts after and marries a young orphan (Amelia Warner), while Abbot Coulmier is torn between his devotion to the cloth and his love for Madeline.

While sometimes advertised as a treatise on censorship, the film is more about the mental warfare between all four main characters. The Marquis de Sade is a devious character who likes to outrage with his sexually explicit writings. Dr Royer-Collard is a hard taskmaster but is shown to be somewhat of a hypocrite when he punishes de Sade (and, in an indirect way, Coulmier) for his sexual expression, while he himself engages in brutal lovemaking with his young wife. Then there is the young abbot, who wants to do the right thing for his religion and the inmates, but is pushed to the limits by the marquis, the doctor, and his forbidden attraction for Madeline. Madeline herself knows the risks she faces by feeding de Sade's proclivity for pornographic prose, but is so consumed by his writing she continually pushes him for more output. There are tragic consequences near the end, and the relationships amongst the four turn a full circle.

The only major complaint I have against Quills is that after the climactic scenes (a superb example of building tension), the film goes on for another fifteen to twenty minutes. While not every climax needs to bring a story to a finish, I felt that at that point in the picture, it would have been quite appropriate to "wrap it up", so to speak. The scenes after the climax, though not without potency, seem oddly extraneous.

The character of de Sade is a showcase for consummate Australian actor (and Oscar-winner for 1996's Shine) Geoffrey Rush, whose measured, stage-honed voice engages delightfully in enunciating the numerous puns and sexual innuendoes. It's a brave and captivating performance as well, as evidenced by his recently announced Best Actor nomination for this role. Fellow Oscar-winner Caine is fine as the doctor pitted against de Sade's wits, though he is probably more "sadistic" than any other character in the movie, the marquis included. Winslet is also good as the laundress, though it's about time she found a role where she doesn't have to bare her breasts. Phoenix isn't that convincing as the young man of religion during the first half of the film, but his gradual character change caused by the numerous pressures put upon him by Royer-Collard, de Sade and Madeline is surprisingly effective. Fans of The Omen should keep their eyes open for Billie Whitelaw, who played the replacement nanny in that devilish horror film.

Director Kaufman, known for racy but artful dramas like The Unbearable Lightness Of Being (1988) and Henry And June (1990), as well as the space program epic The Right Stuff (1983), fills the screen with dank, dreary corridors and hallways, to remind the audience that they're looking at an insane asylum, as well as marble-clad stairways and stately rooms when the focus is away from de Sade. The atmosphere is rich, especially during a riotous play put on by the marquis and the inmates, and the attention to period detail credible. Ultimately, though, the film will be remembered more for its deliciously sexy prose, the character interplay, and the fine acting by the four main actors, in particular Rush.

(c) Joe Wong (28 February 2001)