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Summary: "Quills" is a witty and sexually provocative movie about the notorious writer
of erotic prose of 18th century France, Marquis de Sade. The dialog is poetic as the works of Marquis de Sade
are explicit. And
despite its strong violence and sexual themes, I found myself thoroughly entertained by this
movie. The
film is very polished and the performances were
brilliant, particularly by Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, and Joaquin Phoenix. If
strong violence and sexual themes do not upset or offend you easily,
"Quills" is a provocatively entertaining and emotionally
moving film that should not be missed. I consider it to be one of this
year's best.
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The Story
"Quills" is a witty and sexually provocative
movie about Marquis de Sade, a notorious writer of erotic stories and prose
of 18th century France. The movie stars
Geoffrey Rush in the lead role as Marquis de Sade, imprisoned at the
Charenton Asylum for the Insane. He has been accused of
provoking several sexually related crimes that were committed by readers of
his works. Instead of imprisoning him in a criminal institution, his
wife had him committed in a madhouse, where he is treated as royalty, with
lavish appointments in his "cell" (if you can call it that) and considerable privileges, including a vast library
and a supply of quills for writing stories (so long as they were not
published). Unbeknownst to the resident priest, Abbé Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), the
Marquis is secretly sneaking out his literary compositions, with the help of
Madeleine (Kate Winslet), a laundry maid, for publication
by the underground presses.
When the forbidden stories are printed and distributed,
they catch the attention of emperor Napoleon who orders the ban and burning
of Sade's provocative works. As a measure of discipline, the emperor orders
Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine), known for his torturous techniques that successfully
breaks the resistance and spirit of even the most heinous criminals, to
visit the Charenton Asylum to assess and possibly rectify the situation with Marquis
de Sade. Upon Dr. Royer-Collard's arrival, the Marquis becomes more
defiant than ever and continues to pen illicit literature to provoke the
situation. As a result, the Abbé is forced to give up his nurturing,
progressive approach to rehabilitation in favor of Dr. Royer-Collard's
more conservative and sadistic approach. At first, this means taking away the Marquis'
quills, in an effort to stop his literary creativities. Marquis de
Sade protests violently, claiming
that writing is his only therapeutic outlet for his insatiable
sexual urges:
"I've all the demons of hell in my head. My only
salvation is to vent them on paper."
Enraged, the Marquis maintains his steamy literary
compositions on various media and continues to sneak them out for
publication. This vicious cycle continues when the Abbé is forced by
Dr. Royer-Collard to punish the Marquis with increasing harshness and
brutality. The
plot climaxes with an unforgettable ending that is as outrageous as the
Marquis' works are sexually explicit.
Two elements that I found particularly brilliant about
this movie are its poetic dialog and its clever, satiristic plot.
Though the movie features strong violence and sexual thematic elements, it
never "crosses the line". The film remains tasteful and
well composed. There's even a bittersweet romantic storyline interwoven into this otherwise sadistic
plot. Geoffrey Rush's performance as the Marquis is mesmerizing,
as is Joaquin Phoenix in his role as the Charenton Asylum's resident
priest. Kate Winslet is perfect in her role as the mischievous and
sultry laundry maid. And they couldn't have cast a better actor than
Michael Caine to play Dr. Royer-Collard. "Quills" is a
brilliant film that should be experienced.
The Extras
Bonus material on this "Quills" DVD include:
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audio commentary by screenwriter Doug Wright: A
full-length audio commentary that is as entertaining as it is
informative.
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"Marquis on the Marquee" featurette - a
discussion about the screenplay written by Doug Wright: This is a
seven-minute featurette where the cast
and crew comment on the brilliant screenplay, as adapted
by Doug Wright from his own play. In my opinion, the commendations
are well deserved and appropriate.
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"Creating Charenton" featurette with
production designer Martin Childs: This four-minute featurette takes us
through the design process of the Charenton set. The artistic
creativity is simply amazing.
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"Dressing the Part" featurette: costume
designer Jacqueline West describes director Phil Kaufman's vision of
starting with the characters from the inside out, and her interpretation
of the characters and their changes as reflected in wardrobe through the
film. It's nicely narrated by Jacqueline West and runs seven
minutes long.
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photo still gallery of production artifacts
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Fact & Film - historical facts about the people
portrayed in the film and little known facts about the film's production
and actors: an interest bit of history and trivia
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theatrical trailer and Spanish trailer
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"Pay the Price Review" TV spot
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music promo spot for the soundtrack
For a standard edition DVD, "Quills" contains a
good deal of bonus material that are fun to watch and read.
Video & Audio
The image quality of this anamorphic
widescreen DVD is excellent. The colors are accurate and
saturated, while shadow detail is very good. Basically, the video
transfer is top notch. The Dolby
Digital 5.1 soundtrack is well balanced and effective, while the dialogue comes
across crystal clear. The musical score is simply sensational,
perfectly setting and accentuating the mood of each scene.
Conclusion
For those not easily upset or offended by strong violence and
sexual themes, "Quills" is one of the
best movies released on DVD this year. It does so well what other
movies in this genre sometimes fail to do -- remain tasteful and composed.
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Visit the official Quills DVD web site or its theatrical web site.
Did you find this DVD movie review helpful? Let us
know your thoughts, send an e-mail to us at Feedback@TimeForDVD.com.
Associated equipment used in evaluation: Sony
DVP-S7700 reference DVD player, Sony
KP-61V45 61" rear projection TV (4:3 screen aspect ratio), Sony ES
STR-V444ES A/V receiver, NHT 2.1 as left/right main speakers, NHT 1.1C center channel speaker, NHT
SuperZero as surround speakers, Monster Cable M-series S-Video cable MSV-500, Monster
Cable Interlink LightSpeed 100 (Toslink) optical cable, Monster Cable XP speaker
wires, and Sony MDR-V600 studio monitor headphones. Our home theater equipment was calibrated
with the Video
Essentials DVD.
Be sure to check out our Top 10 DVDs of the year
2001 and our list of this year's Oscar winners on DVD.
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United We Stand
