Directed by:
Philip KaufmanCinematography:
Rogier StoffersComposer:
Stephen WarbeckCast:
Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine, Billie Whitelaw, Patrick Malahide, Amelia Warner, Stephen Moyer, Tony Pritchard, Michael Jenn (more)VOD (2)
Plots(1)
Rush gives a tour-de-force performance as history's most infamous sexual adventurer, the Marquis de Sade. A nobleman with a literary flair, the Marquis lives in a madhouse where a beautiful laundry maid (Winslet) smuggles his erotic stories to a printer, defying orders from the asylum's resident priest (Phoenix). The titillating passages whip all of France into a sexual frenzy, until a fiercely conservative doctor (Caine) tries to put an end to the fun, inadvertently stoking the excitement to a fever pitch. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (3)
I was looking forward to a big acting clash between Geoffrey Rush and Michael Caine, yet, there is so little of Caine's character in Quills that there was no battle and the film became Rush's entitled exhibition. He's great - just like Kate Winslet. However, the rest of the film is quite awkward and even kind of boring towards the end, which surprised me.
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Quills is brilliant in its visual aspect and acting, but inconsistent in its content. Cynicism and provocation conflict with dramatic romance and the credibility of the relationships. Mixed feelings from a haphazardly mixed cocktail. The filmmakers apparently thought that this contradictory content would ensure that controversy would inevitiably arise around the film. Maybe they succeeded in that, but it didn’t make Quills any better.
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Interesting, provocative, incredible, salacious, unpredictable and full of emotion - that's the kind of portrait I have of this divisive and highly "controversial" film. I have to admit that it is one of the most unusual films I have seen so far. It is dominated by the impeccable performances of Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Michael Caine and Joaquin Phoenix, as well as the brilliantly evoked setting of a madhouse. If it weren't for its overtness and over-the-topness, which jarring at times, I would have given it a 5*, but I give it a pretty solid 4* and I have to say that this film will be on my mind for quite a while.
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