Quills (DVD)

How much do you know about the man who gave his name to the word "sadism"? Sadly, you will learn precious little about him in this film. Trading on his infamy, Quills offers us an almost completely fictional account of the Marquis, and in doing so, invites us to reach a misleading conclusion about his place in history. But the film is not without merit, and its theme probably attracted such a high quality cast. Geoffrey Rush plays the notorious nobleman; Kate Winslet is Madeleine "Maddy" Leclerc, the daughter of an employee at Charenton insane asylum, where de Sade was indeed incarcerated (though shown as older than the 13 years she was ...  Read the complete review

Originally based on Douglas Wright's play, it makes no pretenses about its historical accuracy, but is more an imagined idea about De Sade's impact on society contained within the final years he spent at the Charenton Asylum under the famously liberal Abbe (played by Joaquin Phoenix). The obvious theme here is the argument over censorship and hypocrisy. These are shown through the stories main protagonists. These characters are flawed in some way, making them fall short of their own ideals. The Abbe's kindness, charity and liberialism are in complete contrast to the brutally puritanical Dr. Royer-Collard (played by the ever entertaining Michael Caine) and the ...  Read the complete review

Tackling a portrayal of the life of someone as controversial as the Marquis de Sade was always going to be a difficult task for writer Doug Wright, but that is what he set himself to do in 2000 `s Quills. The premise of the film is this, for various perverse crimes, de Sade (Geoffrey Rush) finds himself subject to incarceration. Due to his aristocratic status and the influence of his wife instead of the prison that he would expect, he is interned in an asylum. Here he is allowed his own room and a decent lifestyle, and under the direction of the Abbe de Coulmier (Joaquim Phoenix) is encouraged to write as a form of therapy, the idea being that writing his perverse ...  Read the complete review

Until sometime round about yesterday afternoon-ish, I was a naive, innocent little soul who knew nothing of *cough* ahem, sex *cough*. Yes, indeed. However, I was corrupted by Geoffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix and Michael Caine...shame on them. I should have never listened to my friends, who assured me that Quills was not only a good film but was perfectly nice and innocent-people-friendly. Well, apparently not. I know, I know, I should have clicked when I read it was a film about the Marquis De Sade, but apparently I got my wires crossed somewhere along the lines and for some ...  Read the complete review

"Imperious, choleric, irascible, extreme in everything, with a dissolute imagination the like of which has never been seen, atheistic to the point of fanaticism, there you have me in a nutshell, and kill me again or take me as I am, for I shall not change." From the Marquis de Sade's Last Will and Testament I like to think of myself as an open minded person. In truth there's little that I find shocking when it comes to the ol' bedroom stuff although of course we all have our own likes and dislikes. Some time ago I decided to read '120 Days of Sodom' by the Marquis de Sade. I was interested to know more about this man I had ...  Read the complete review