Quills (R) No Rating
The imprisoned Marquis de Sade gets his kicks with a plume in this exhaustingly trashy costume drama.
Story
Comte Donatien Alphonse François de Sade (Geoffrey Rush), the legendary French libertine and writer of dirty stories who lent his name to the term "sadism," goofs away the last decadent years of his life in an insane asylum. But the black-market publication of his latest porno masterpiece upsets the unorthodox arrangements he has with a mischievous chambermaid (Kate Winslet) and the open-minded priest who administers the facility (Joaquin Phoenix). Soon a harsh new supervisor (Michael Caine) arrives with orders to break the unrepentant Marquis.
Acting
While he bears little physical resemblance to the historical de Sade -- a 350-pound 64-year-old at the time of his death in 1814 -- Rush ("Shine") nails the combustible mixture of monster and intellectual rebel that makes the character such a fascinating counterculture icon. Meanwhile, "Titanic" leading lady Winslet has almost too much sultry star presence for what is little more than an overglorified henchwoman part. The talented Phoenix ("Gladiator") has much more to work with as a young priest caught in an increasingly painful moral dilemma.
Direction
Philip Kaufman, who previously indulged in raunchy literary biography with 1990's "Henry and June," digs into substantial issues about free speech and the incendiary power of ideas in a piece that plays like "Amadeus" meets "The People vs. Larry Flynt." Kaufman and screenwriter Doug Wright (adapting his own stage play) mean to wash all this down with as much lurid teen sex, necrophilia and S&M as they can cram into an art film, but there's something a little too earnestly deliberate about their attempts to be crude and salacious. Their Marquis is an entertaining enough fellow, but he starts to wear out his welcome as this highbrow tour of hell plods through its somewhat tedious second hour.
Bottom Line
Nice try, but nonstop wickedness and debauchery should be more fun.
To get the full Quicklook Films experience, uncheck "Enable on this Site" from Adblock Plus
box office top 10
Civil War Released: April 12, 2024 Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura 11.1M
Abigail Released: April 19, 2024 Cast: Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens 10.2M
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Released: March 29, 2024 Cast: Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry 9.5M
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare Released: April 19, 2024 Cast: Henry Cavill, Eiza Gonzalez 9M
Spy x Family Code: White Released: April 19, 2024 Cast: Takuya Eguchi, Saori Hayami 4.9M
Kung Fu Panda 4 Released: March 8, 2024 Cast: Jack Black, Viola Davis 4.6M
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Released: March 22, 2024 Cast: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon 4.4M
Dune: Part Two Released: March 1, 2024 Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson 2.9M
Monkey Man Released: April 5, 2024 Cast: Dev Patel, Sikandar Kher 2.2M
The First Omen Released: April 5, 2024 Cast: Nell Tiger Free, Bill Nighy 1.7M