Cast: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine, Amelia Warner
Director: Philip Kaufman
Producers: Julia Chasman, Peter Kaufman, Nick Wechsler
Screenplay: Doug Wright, based on his play
Cinematography: Rogier Stoffers
Music: Stephen Warbeck
U.S. Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Two assumptions can readily be made about any motion picture centered around the Marquis de Sade. The first is that the material will be of a sexual nature. The second is that the movie will not be a lighthearted romp. Both of these presumptions are true in the case of Philip Kaufman's Quills, arguably the most provocative and best historical melodrama of 2000 (not that it has a great deal of competition). Employing the talents of a top-flight cast and working from a screenplay that uses the historical backdrop as a means to deal with issues of contemporary import, Quills offers a thoroughly compelling two hours.
Count Donatien-Alphonse-François de Sade, better known as the Marquis de Sade, lived from 1740 until 1814, although his infamous reputation has survived for nearly two centuries since his remains were scattered. (His name lies at the root of the word "sadism".) For most of his adult life, the Marquis was in and out of prison, as his penchant for deviant sexual behavior (which typically included torture) continually put him at odds with the law. Following the French Revolution and the storming of the Bastille, he was incarcerated in the Charenton Asylum for the Insane, where he resided for a year. After his release, he spent approximately a decade writing scandalous manuscripts and putting on plays before his activities once again landed him at Charenton, where he spent the rest of his life.
Quills, although a fictionalized account of the Marquis' last years, is moderately faithful to the historical record. The characterization of the title character, despite being softened to make the man bearable to a mainstream audience, captures some of Sade's essence. As portrayed by the energetic Geoffrey Rush in a brilliant turn that avoids the easy path of caricaturization, Sade is a shrewd, dangerous man with an intelligence that is matched in magnitude by his perverse sexual desires. Rush's interpretation of the Marquis is not easily forgotten, and eclipses that of French actor Daniel Auteuil in Benoit Jacquot's Sade, a 2000 feature that does not yet have a United States distributor.
Quills has a difficult task - one at which it succeeds. It must give a sense of Sade's depravity and tendencies towards evil without alienating the audience. Those of a delicate conscience may be offended by the movie, but the images it conjures in the mind are more disturbing than those depicted on screen. Most of Quills' sexual content comes in the form of excerpts from the Marquis' writings. Aside from one dream sequence that hints at necrophilia, there is little in the way of sex that is actually shown, and most (if not all) of the nudity is non-erotic. Rush has several full-frontal scenes, but they are in a non-sexual context.
Thematically, the movie tackles issues that are as relevant today as they were during Sade's time. The salacious and melodramatic aspects of the film hold our interest on a superficial level, but the underlying richness of the subtext is what elevates Quills above the level of a traditional period piece bio-pic. One element that Kaufman emphasizes is the power of the creative impulse - how it drives and pushes an artist on an almost involuntary level. People create not upon a whim but as the result of a volcanic pressure seeking escape (Sade notes that, for him, the impulse to write is as powerful and unstoppable as the beating of his heart). Secondly, Quills takes a stand about the role of art in society. The perspective advocated here is that art, although potentially offensive, must be allowed to stand or fall on its own merits, and that any actions resulting from a person embracing that art are the responsibility of the individual, not the art. Finally, Quills explores ideas of personal freedom, asking whether someone can truly be free while constrained by society's conventions.
Those familiar with the work of iconoclast director Peter Greenaway (The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover, 8 1/2 Women) may find sympathetic vibrations in Quills. However, while Kaufman may be venturing close to Greenaway's home turf, he is still in familiar territory. One of his previous films, Henry and June, also dealt with sex and literature, and was adult enough in nature that it forced the creation of the NC-17 rating (which turned out to be a colossal failure, but for which there were once high hopes). Quills is not as explicit as Henry and June (or Kaufman's adaptation of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, for that matter), but it is more provocative.
There isn't a weak performance to be found. Kate Winslet, continuing to enrich an already impressive resume, plays Madeleine, a chambermaid at the asylum who is engaged in a clandestine (albeit platonic) relationship with the Marquis. His writing fascinates her, and she smuggles his manuscripts out of Charenton so that they can be published. Winslet's performance, while generally low key, is so strong that she is able to stand toe-to-toe with the more flamboyant Rush. Joaquin Phoenix, one of today's hot young acting prospects, turns in solid work as a priest who conceals romantic feelings for Madeleine. Finally, Michael Caine proves that he still has what it takes to play one of the most thoroughly disagreeable characters on screen. His portrayal of Dr. Royer-Collard, the "man of science" sent by Napoleon to oversee Charenton, results in a memorably detestable villain.
For those who aren't offended by the idea of a movie that presents the Marquis de Sade as a multi-dimensional character rather than a cartoon-like pervert, Quills has much to offer. It is based on a play by Doug Wright, and, while the dialogue has the intelligence and crispness of something originally designed for the stage, Wright and Kaufman have done an excellent job of opening up the setting. Quills is not constrained by its origins. The depth of the various relationships, the fact that the movie is about something, and the engrossing nature of the storyline all combine to make this a strong entry in a season of disappointments.
© 2000 James Berardinelli