Quills

Quills is not the type of film i would normally watch but because of it's high IMDB rating i decide to give it a go and i am pleased i did. This is the Story of The Marques De Sade and how , against the authorities wishes, he published his erotic sado masochistic stories to the world. Each time they got through to the public from his cell in a sanatorium, he was punished more and more until he paid the ultimate price as did his conspiritor. The role of the Marquis is superbly acted out by Geoffrey Rush along with some other excellent performances from Michael Caine and Billie Whitelaw and Jaoquin Phoenix. The whole film is tastfully done considering the content of the story and looks superb. The ending is good too , showing how the authorities became the biggest hypocrits of all....no change there then. 7 out of 10.

"Quills" is a companion piece to "The People vs. Larry Flynt" though here when they're dressed the excellent cast is in Napoleonic costumes and speak with British accents. Geoffrey Rush is mesmerizing and Joaquin Phoenix puts in, amazingly, his third terrific performance of the year as a man forced into conflict with himself. This is compellingly about all sides of the * issue -- how it corrupts (sets free?) the creator, the stimulated and the censor. This is strong stuff portrayed frankly -- though we see the brutality of the punishers more graphically than the enjoyment of the libertines, because, after all, De Sade's threatening weapons of delight are just the words of an artist while TPTB, whether Revolutionary or counter-Revolutionary, have control. (originally written 12/15/2000)

Marquis De Sade was one french aristocrat writer that definitely has left his mark. His sexual controversial literary works helped coin the term- `Sadism.' `Quills' is set during the last phases of De Sade's life when he was imprisoned in a mental asylum. Geoffrey Rush shines again portraying De Sade with fierce energy. Kate Winslet sinks into her role as the laundry girl with sexual enticement. Also, I was more impressed with Joaquin Phoenix's role as the constrained priest here than the selfish conqueror one he played in `Gladiator.' So remember to mark you calendar and sign on to see `Quills.' **** Good