Porn or erotica? (Quills (DVD))

Member Name: kimgraham

Product:	Quills (DVD)
Date:	25/08/02 (621 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some excellent acting

Disadvantages: Kate Winslet

Last week my daughter suggested that we stayed up late to watch Quills which was showing on one of the Sky movie channels. I did not know a lot about it, other than it was about the Marquis de Sade. I was pretty sure that any film about the infamous Marquis was going to be, at the very least, a bit risqué, so I despatched my youngest daughter to bed.

Quills won the National Board of Review's Best Film of 2000. The script was by Doug Wright and it was directed by Philip Kaufman.
The thing that surprised me was the cast. This just had to be a film based on sex, it couldn't be much else if it was about the Marquis de Sade. However, its main parts are played by Michael Caine, Kate Winslet, Geoffrey Rush and Joaquin Phoenix. I was surprised to find actors of this calibre in what I had been informed was basically a soft porn movie! I was to be very surprised.

Firstly, for any of you that are not familiar with the Marquis de Sade or his writings allow me to give you just a little background detail.

The Marquis was a French nobleman who lived from 1740-1814. He had vociferous sexual appetites and a penchant for sodomy both homosexual and heterosexual, rape (especially young girls) and torture. The word sadism is derived from his name and first entered a dictionary in 1834, where it said "sadist- one who derives sexual gratification from the infliction of pain on others"

De Sade was involved in many scandals and imprisoned on more than one occasion. He seemed puzzled by all this as he thought that was how all French noblemen behaved! His wife at least in the short term supported him and attempted to cover for him. One particularly nasty scandal involved a young prostitute. Having ascertained that she was a Catholic he stripped her, masturbated into a chalice, inserted two Communion hosts into her before taking her. All through this he was shouting blasphemous comments. So you can see, he was a really nice man! Oh,
as if that wasn't enough , he then beat her with a red hot cat o' nine tails. The unfortunate girl managed to escape not a moment too soon ,and the authorities were called in. This was only one of many such incidents.

The Marquis spent the latter part of his life in jail and then in the Charenton Insane Asylum where he later died. His wife preferred to have a husband who was insane rather than have a sadistic brute in jail, and so paid to keep him in the mental institution. Whilst in the asylum de Sade wrote many novels and plays, all of a sexual nature.They were very popular on the French black market for over 100 years!

It is from here that the film begins. It is set in 1807 in the Charenton Asylum. The place is overseen by a young priest, played by Joaquim Phoenix and the Doctor is played by Michael Caine.

The film is a ménage a trois with a difference. Both the priest and the Marquis are in love with the laundry maid, played by Kate Winslet. Neither admit it, and there is a turbulent undercurrent throughout the film. Will either of them crack and take her? Well, that's for you to find out!

The young priest is very worried about the Marquis' state of mind. He knows the history and knows that he is a sexual deviant. As a form of therapy he suggests that the Marquis writes down all his lustful thoughts and ideas. Somehow, the laundry maid becomes a middle man, smuggling the manuscripts out of the asylum from where they are published.
Uproar breaks loose and the Doctor (Michael Caine, un-usually the villain of the piece) comes to try and restrain the Marquis from writing. Here he comes up against the Priest who seems to be struggling with his own inner demons. He is obviously besotted by Madeleine, the laundry maid and also has a secret, intellectual sympathy for the Marquis. He allows him to live in luxury with fine things around him, rather than confine him to a cell. Geoffrey Rush is magnificent as the Mar
quis. He plays the part with just the right balance of pathos and humour.

The plays and novels are extremely graphic. The virginal laundry maid is rather a paradox in that she is obviously extremely titillated by the stories and encourages the Marquis to write more.She also takes great pleasure in reading them aloud to anyone else who will listen! She runs the Marquis a merry dance, and refuses to give in to his advances. One couldn't help feeling that if this man was the pervert he was portrayed to be, surely he would have just taken her as he had with so many girls before?
This showed a slightly more caring and sensitive side to the Marquis which has hitherto not been particularly exploited.

Joaquin Phoenix is extremely good as the Priest. The inner torment is tangible as he wrestles with his conscience.He wants to be true to his calling, but he is also a man and his lusts are quite obviously torturing his every waking hour. The Marquis is extremely good at winding him up. The rapport between the two characters is excellent. They have a deep down understanding of each others inner torment and there seems to be a mutual respect and friendship there below the surface.

Kate Winslet is reasonable as Madeleine. Initially it was a bit disconcerting when she started reciting extremely erotic and explicit prose.believe me, it was quite graphic! It just didn't seem quite in keeping with her usual style. I was if anything, a bit disappointed by her in this film.

A little extra interest is provided by Michael Caine. He is a cold and callous man who is disgusted by the Marquis and would like to stop him writing. However, he is also not what he seems. He takes his very young ward and makes her marry him. Now this is where it gets interesting: he virtually rapes this extremely naïve little thing, and the next thing you know she is also reading the Marquis' porno work and seducing the workmen! Isn't human nature fascinati
ng!?
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The sexual undertone is there throughout. I was waiting all the way through expecting somebody to lose control and rape Kate Winslet. The tension was building that way right from the beginning. They set it up to happen from many quarters , not only the Priest or the Marquis, but also one or two other rather unsavoury inmates! You will have to see for yourself what happens.

The film in some respects is quite shocking. There was a stunning necrophilia scene that had me reaching for the TV guide. I always hide behind it if I am not comfortable with something on the screen! The language in parts is also quite explicit, although very flowery.

Kate Winslet floats through the whole film paradoxically utterly seductive and yet totally pure. It was an electrifying mix, due more to the skill of the script writer, than her acting ability. I would have preferred to see some else in the part, really.

Eventually the powers that be are so concerned about the writings being published, that Napoleon himself becomes involved. It is decided to remove all writing implements from the Marquis? room. de Sade is like a man possessed. He must write, and it must be about sex or he would go mad. He finds anything to write on, bed sheets, his clothes etc and as a substitute for ink he stoops to using his own faeces and blood and sometimes wine.

So, do they manage to silence the Marquis? How about the laundry maid- does she remain unsullied? Does the priest keep his vows?

Well, I am not saying. Sorry, you will have to watch it for yourselves!

Did I like this film? No, not really. It was clever and very skilfully done. The acting was excellent and it had a very believable feel to it. Perhaps that's why I didn't like it. I am most definitely not a prude and I am not easily shocked. I think my biggest problem was feeling that Kate Winslet was not quite right for the part.

My daughters on the other hand thou
ght it was superb. I owe this op to them as they said I would not be able to do it due to the subject matter!

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