Quills (2000)
- Starring:
- Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, (more)
- Director(s):
- Philip Kaufman
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R
- Category:
- Independent Films
Member Rating
My RatingTheatrical Release Information | See Details About All Versions
The Marquis de Sade was a man who liked to stir up trouble, at a time when his native France was in a state of tremendous political turmoil, and this historical drama examines how much controversy he could cause even under repressive circumstances. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, the Marquis de Sade (Geoffrey Rush) manages to narrowly escape execution during the Reign of Terror, and instead is sentenced to the Charenton Asylum for the Insane. Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), the priest who heads the asylum, is sympathetic to the political machinations that have put the Marquis in his care, and allows him not only to write what he pleases, but to stage theater pieces using the other patients as actors. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine), a tyrannical doctor overseeing the mental institutions of Napoleonic France, is as outraged as the emperor when he reads Justine, a scabrous volume the Marquis penned while an inmate at Charenton, and he demands that de Sade be stopped. But Royer-Collard soon learns that stopping the Marquis from writing is not so simple; when de Sade's quills and ink are taken from him, he uses wine and even his own blood to write his stories. When these options are no longer available, he dictates his work with the help of Madeline (Kate Winslet), a laundry girl working at the asylum, who is fascinated by the notorious de Sade, though she declines his frequent requests to satisfy his notorious sexual appetites. Based on the play by Doug Wright (who also penned the screenplay), Quills was directed by Philip Kaufman, who previously documented the line between eroticism and literature in Henry and June and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Theatrical Feature Running Time:
- 124 mins
Complete Cast:
- Geoffrey Rush - Marquis de Sade
- Joaquin Phoenix - Coulmier
- Billie Whitelaw - Madame LeClerc
- Stephen Moyer - Prouix
- Kate Winslet - Madeleine
- Michael Caine - Royer-Collard
- Patrick Malahide - Delbene
- Pauline McLynn - Mademoiselle Clairwill
- Director(s):
- Philip Kaufman
- Writer(s):
- Doug Wright
- Producer(s):
- Nick Wechsler, Peter Kaufman, Julia Chasman
- Theatrical MPAA Rating:
- R(Strong Sexual Content, Nudity, Profanity, Rape & Sexual Abuse)
- Categories:
- Independent Films
- Closed Captioning:
- Check All Versions
- Subtitles:
- Check All Versions
- 2000 - Quills - Broadcast Film Critics Association - Best Supporting Actor
- 2000 - Quills - National Board of Review - Best Supporting Actor
- 2000 - Quills - National Board of Review - Special Recognition for Freedom of Expression
- 2000 - Quills - National Board of Review - Best Picture
