What Katy did next... (Quills (DVD))

Member Name: Whitehorse

Product:	Quills (DVD)
Date:	12/06/03 (484 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant screenplay, Excellent acting, Captivating

Disadvantages: May be too graphic for some

"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 heard so much about. I have to say I just found it unreadable. It goes beyond porn and moves into nasty violent acts that divorce any humanity and compassion from the act itself. It is the only time I think I could properly use the word 'depraved'.

That said, I still find the man himself fascinating in the same way as I wonder what makes someone torture another human being or rape someone. I think the scariest thing of all is that really we do know why people do such things and how they can - it's all about the power. They are still human, much as we would like to think they are not and maybe psychopaths aside by virtue of their illness, they also have their own feelings, fears and complexities - just like us.

Born in 1740 in Paris, Sade was educated by his uncle a Benedictine monk which is perhaps where the internal conflicts first began. The Marquis later is known to have said "The idea of God is the sole wrong for which I cannot forgive mankind." As a young man he joined the Kings Infantry. In 1763 he married his wife with whom he had fallen madly in love with - although he was apparently wooing another lady at the same time! It seems it is from the point on that The Marquis follows his path down into depravity with his visits to brothels getting him thrown
into jail amongst other scandals. He died in an asylum.


I was a little dubious about watching Quills. A friend had taped it off Sky and apart from the main subject matter I had no further idea about it - or even who was in it. I think I kind of assumed an arty film with unknown player that probably wasn't going to be my cup of tea. Much was my surprise then when I saw the lovely Kate Winslet and one of my favourite actors Michael Caine. From the first few minutes of the film I was hooked.

For his various crimes the Marquis de Sade is locked up in his own palatial room in a mental asylum Charenton. Although Married, Sade is in love with a chambermaid called Madeleine (Kate Winslet) who regularly scurries away with the saucy manuscripts the Marquis has written to be published and marketed on the streets of gay Paris. Madeleine is both virginal and seductive and titillated by what she reads between the pages. The asylum is run by The Abbe du Coulmier who unfortunately (considering his vow to chastity) is also in love with Madeleine though he cannot admit it. Herein lies the tension of the film. The Abbe believes that it is good for the Marquis to excise his demons by writing but of course has little idea that the works are serving as the 17th century version of Channel 5 plus some. When Napoleon himself finds discovers the books are being widely read, the little man orders the Marquis to be silenced. The silencer comes in the form of Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine) a deeply hypocritical man who damns the Marquis yet takes a young teenage girl from a nunnery for his wife and rapes her every night. The poor Abbe is horrified that the Marquis work has found it's way out of the gates of the asylum and begins to punish the Marquis by taking away all his writing implements - beginning with his quills. From this the Marquis descends into chaos, taking everyone in the asylum with him.

I found this an absolutely fascinating film with m
any deep themes and threads woven into the script. Geoffrey Rush plays the Marquis with insane brilliance and exuberance. Kate Winslet is captivating in her portrayal of Madeleine. It was strange to see Michael Caine playing such a nasty man. I felt the horror of his character made more impact on me because it was just so unexpected. Caine plays the Doctor adequately. It's always debatable perhaps on how good an actor he is but regardless I just like him. My personal favourite however was Joaquin Phoenix who manages to get right under the skin of his character and through a mere flicker of the eyes shows how the Abbe is gradually coming apart at the seams.

For me the most interesting facet of the film was the polarity of chastity/virtue and depravity. Virtue - represented by the Doctor and the Abbe is positively woolly in the face of the fanatical depravity of the Marquis. I found myself being drawn into the truth of what the Marquis believed in because he really believed with heart, mind body and soul. The other characters beliefs were obviously not built on rock but very thin ice.

The film is graphic but often this is shown in a bawdy way reminiscent of The Wife's Tale by Chaucer. What is disturbing though is the stripping away of sanity, the Abbe's fight for control, the menacing eyes that watch Madeleine, the Doctors own hidden depravity and finally the Marquis himself who's need to express his stories has him resorting to the most base of methods. I also love how the Marquis is depicted like the Devil one minute and the wise fool the next. He is the one who sees truly into the heart of the Abbe and it is perhaps this that moves the Abbe to an act that will change his life forever. The genius of the movie is that it moves the viewer to have compassion for the Marquis - to discover that like the yin yang symbol there is no such thing as pure evil or pure good - each is tainted with a little of the other.

Director Philip
Kaufman has done an wonderful job. The scenes are rich in texture and colour. I was not familiar with his work but have now found that he directed invasion of the Body Snatchers - the 1978 version so points to him! The screenplay was written by Doug Wright - a writer I am unfamiliar with and not much info seems available about him. However Quills was given a Golden Globe nomination for best screenplay so high marks there. As a writer he poses one of the greatest questions in these times of censorship versus freedom of expression - can words harm? The tagline for the movie is There are no bad words... only bad deeds. Certainly the end of the movie had me questioning this.

This certainly isn't a light movie and definitely has adult content but I would absolutely recommend it as an eye-opening journey!



PS Who ate my capital letters???

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