Director: Philip Kaufman
Screenplay: Doug Wright, based on the play Quills by Doug Wright
Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine
Running Time: 119 minutes
Genre: Period drama
Several years after the French Revolution, the notorious Marquis de Sade (Rush) is locked up in the Charenton asylum, run by the kindly Abbé de Coulmier (Phoenix), who encourages the Marquis' writing, because he believes it to be therapeutic. However, unbeknownst to the Abbé, the Marquis is smuggling his manuscripts to a publisher, with the help of laundry maid Madeline (Winslet). The Marquis' violently pornographic books cause a sensation throughout France, much to the displeasure of the Emperor Napoleon (Ron Cook), who orders all copies of the Marquis' works to be burned, and assigns the uncompromising Dr. Royer-Collard (Caine) to take over at Charenton and silence the Marquis by any means necessary.
This film may be very historically inaccurate, but it is a hugely entertaining, extremely dark tale, with deliciously sharp dialogue, laced with bitter humour. It deals with creation, mental illness, censorship, hypocrisy, and control. Despite his monstrous acts, which are discussed if not depicted, the Marquis de Sade, archly played by Geoffrey Rush, is portrayed as an anti-hero, a crusader for free speech. Many people find his incendiary works liberating, particularly Royer-Collard's abused young wife, Simone (Amelia Warner), while for others they trigger horribly violent acts. The cast all give good performances, and the film has a wonderfully gothic, gloomy atmosphere.
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