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Quills is a 2000 period drama directed by Philip Kaufman and adapted from the Obie award-winning play by Doug Wright, who also wrote the original screenplay. Inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade, Quills re-imagines the last years of the Marquis while incarcerated in the insane asylum at Charenton. It stars Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis de Sade, Joaquin Phoenix as the Abbé du Coulmier, Michael Caine as Dr. Royer-Collard, and Kate Winslet as laundress Madeleine "Maddy" LeClerc. Generally well-received by critics, Quills garnered numerous accolades for star Geoffrey Rush, including nominations for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. The film was a modest art house success, averaging $27,709 per screen its debut weekend, and eventually grossing $17,989,277 internationally. Though cited by historians as factually inaccurate, Quills filmmakers and writers have said they were not trying to make a biography of de Sade, but explore issues such as censorship, pornography, sex, art, mental illness, and religion.[1][2]
PlotSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
The film resumes several years later with the Marquis confined to the asylum at Charenton, overseen by the enlightened Abbé du Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix). The Marquis has been publishing his work through laundress Madeleine “Maddy” LeClerc (Kate Winslet), who smuggles manuscripts through an anonymous horseman (Tom Ward) to Monsieur Masse, a publisher. The Marquis' latest work, Justine is soon published on the black market to great success. Napoleon (Ron Cook) orders all copies of the book burned and the author shot, but his advisor, Delbené (Patrick Malahide) tempers this potentially contentious idea with one of his own: send traditionalist Doctor Royer-Collard (Michael Caine) to look in at Charenton and silence the Marquis. Dr. Royer-Collard arrives, informing the Abbé that the Marquis' “therapeutic writings” have been distributed for public consumption. Horrified, the Abbé rejects Royer-Collard's offers of several archaic “treatments” and asks to speak with the Marquis himself, who promptly swears obedience (winking at Madeleine through a peephole). Royer-Collard takes his leave for the time being and travels to the Panthemont Convent in Paris to retrieve his promised bride, the underage Simone (Amelia Warner). They are gifted a run-down chateau by the Emperor, with a handsome young architect, Prouix (Stephen Moyer) on hand for its renovation. The hasty marriage incites much gossip at the asylum, prompting the Marquis to write a farce, replacing the play the inmates at Charenton were to perform at a public exhibition. The audacious play, entitled “The Crimes of Love”, is interrupted when the inmate Bouchon (British character actor Stephen Marcus) molests Madeleine off-stage, prompting her to hit him in the face with an iron. Royer-Collard shuts down the public theater exhibitions and demands that the Abbé “do more” to control the Marquis. Infuriated, the Abbé confiscates the Marquis' quills and ink, prompting more subversive behavior, including a story written in wine on a bedsheet. This results in further deprivation, eventually leaving the Marquis naked in an emptied cell.
About to be sent away from Charenton for her role in assisting the Marquis, Madeleine begs a last story from him, which is to be relayed to her through the asylum patients. Bouchon, the inmate at the end of the relay, is excited by the story, breaks out of his cell, and kills Madeleine. The asylum is set afire by the pyromaniac Dauphin (George Yiasoumi) and the inmates break out of their cells. Madeline's body is found by her blind mother in the laundry vat and Bouchon is captured and imprisoned inside an iron dummy. The Abbé blames the Marquis for Madeleine's death and prods him into a fury. The Marquis claims he had been with Madeleine in every way imaginable, only to be told she had died a virgin. The Abbé decides to cut out the Marquis' tongue as punishment. The Marquis' health declines severely after the removal of his tongue, though perverse as ever, he decorates his oubliette with a story, using feces as ink. As the Abbé finishes reading the last rites, he offers the Marquis a crucifix to kiss, which he swallows. A year later, the new Abbé du Maupas (Alex Avery) arrives at Charenton and is given the grand tour. The asylum has been converted into a printing press, with the inmates as its workers. The books being printed are the works of the Marquis de Sade. At the end of the tour, the new Abbé meets his predecessor, who resides in the Marquis' old cell. Yearning to write, he begs paper and a quill from the Abbé, who is herded off by Royer-Collard, now overseer of the asylum. However, the peephole opens, and Madeleine's mother thrusts paper, quill, and ink through. The Abbé begins to scribble furiously, with the Marquis providing the narration.[3] CastSpoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.
ProductionFilming began in England on August 5, 1999, [8] with Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, and London standing in for early nineteenth century France.[9] Oscar-winning production designer Martin Childs (Shakespeare in Love) imagined the primary location of Charenton as an airy, though circuitous place, darkening as Royer-Collard takes over operations. The screenplay specifies the way the inmates' rooms link together, which plays a key role in the relay of the Marquis' climactic story to Madeleine.[10] Doug Wright was a constant presence on set, assisting the actors and producers in interpreting the script and bringing his vision to life.[11] Oscar-nominated Costume_design costume designer Jacqueline West created the intricate period costumes, using each character as inspiration. West previously worked with director Philip Kaufman on his crime drama Rising Sun. For Joaquin Phoenix's Abbé, costumers designed special “pleather” clogs to accommodate the actor's veganism. In one scene, Geoffrey Rush's Marquis de Sade wears a suit decorated in bloody script, which West described as “challenging” to make. It features actual writings of de Sade and costumers planned exactly where each sentence should go on the fabric. Before production began, West gave Winslet a copy of French painter Léopold Boilly's “Woman Ironing” to give her a feel for the character, which Winslet said greatly influenced her performance.[12] Casting directors Donna Isaacson and Priscilla John recruited a number of actors from a disabled actor's company to play the parts of many of the inmates at Charenton.[11] MusicCritical ReceptionThe Quills soundtrack was released by RCA Victor on November 21, 2000 featuring the music of Oscar-winning composer Stephen Warbeck (Shakespeare in Love).[13] Featuring experimental instrumentation by The Quills Specialist Band[14] on such instruments as the serpent, shawm, and bucket,[15] most reviewers were intrigued by the unconventional and thematic score. Cinemusic.net reviewer Ryan Keaveney called the album a “macabre masterpiece,” with an “addicting and mesmerizing” sound.[16] Urban Cinephile contributor Brad Green described the album as a “hedonistic pleasure” that “captures the spirit of an incorrigible, perverse genius.”[15] Soundtrack.net's Glenn McClanan disliked the “lack of unifying unified themes and motifs” that may have served each individual scene, but made the film feel “incoherent.”[17] Au Claire de la LuneThough not included on the soundtrack, the opening notes of "Au Claire de la Lune," a traditional French children's song sometimes attributed to Jean-Baptiste Lully, recur throughout the film, often hummed by the Marquis.[18] The English translation provides some illumination as to its selection as a theme for the Marquis: Music sample:
At thy door I'm knocking by the pale moonlight Track Listing
ReactionBox office performanceDistributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures in 2000, Quills premiered in the United States at the Telluride Film Festival on September 2, 2000. It was given a limited release on November 22, 2000, with a wider release following on December 15, 2000. The film earned $249,383 its opening weekend in nine theaters,[20] totaling $7,065,332 domestically and $10,923,895 internationally, for a total of $17,989,227. [21][22] AwardsQuills received three Oscar nominations at the 73rd Annual Academy Awards for Actor in a Leading Role (Geoffrey Rush, previous winner for the 1996 movie Shine), Art Direction (Art: Martin Childs, Sets: Jill Quertier), and Costume Design (Jacqueline West).[23]. The film was also nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press, organizers of the Golden Globes, for Best Actor in a Drama (Geoffrey Rush) and Best Screenplay (Douglas Wright). [24] The National Board of Review selected Quills as its Best Film of 2000[25]. Critical receptionReviews were generally positive, with extravagant praise heaped on Rush. Elvis Mitchell of the New York Times complimented the “euphoric stylishness” of Kaufman's direction and Geoffrey Rush's “gleeful...flamboyant” performance.[26] Peter Travers for Rolling Stone raved about the “exceptional” actors, particularly Geoffrey Rush's “scandalously good” performance as the Marquis, populating a film that is “literate, erotic, and spoiling to be heard.”[27] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com enthused over the “delectable and ultimately terrifying fantasy” of Quills, with Rush as “sun king,” enriched by a “luminous” supporting cast.[28]
The film was not without its detractors, including Richard Schickel of TIME Magazine, who decried director Philip Kaufman's approach as “brutally horrific, vulgarly unamusing,” creating a film that succeeds only as “soft-gore porn.”[29] Eleanor Ringel Gillespie of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution concurred, finding Quills “shrill, pretentious, sophomoric and often just plain dumb.”[30] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times dismissed the film as an “overripe contrivance masquerading as high art."[31] DVD and other releasesQuills was released on NTSC VHS and Region 1 DVD on May 8, 2001, with PAL VHS and Region 2 DVD to follow on October 29, 2001. The DVD contains a feature-long commentary track by screenwriter/playwright Doug Wright and three featurettes: “Marquis on Marquee,” “Creating Charenton,” and “Dressing the Part.” Also included are the theatrical trailer, a television spot, a photo gallery, a music promotional spot, and a feature called “Fact & Film: Historical and Production Information.” Historical inaccuracyQuills was criticized by Neil Schaeffer, a biographer of de Sade, for historical inaccuracies and for simplifying the life story of de Sade. He detailed a number of disparities between fact and film in a review published in The Guardian shortly before Quills' release. Director Philip Kaufman used Schaeffer's The Marquis de Sade: A Life as reference for the film.[1] The Marquis de Sade did not physically resemble Geoffrey Rush, as he was “grotesquely obese” and of “middling height.” Nor did the Abbé du Coulmier look anything like Joaquin Phoenix, reportedly measuring four feet tall and “severely misshapen.” [32] Madeleine LeClerc was a chambermaid at Charenton and thirteen years old when she met de Sade. He paid for her services, with the permission of her mother, for five years until his death. She did not, however, serve as liaison to a publisher; that service was provided by de Sade's long-time companion Mademoiselle Quesnet.[32] She had a room at the asylum so she could be with him, and when he died, she was a primary beneficiary of his will. [33] The novel Justine, prominently featured in the film, was published thirteen years before de Sade's incarceration at the asylum.[33] De Sade's smuggled works were not particularly outrageous, mostly consisting of traditional novels and a number of plays he worked on throughout his life in hopes of having them performed. Most of these were soundly rejected by publishers.[32] De Sade was, in fact, involved in the theater productions at Charenton, though none like the play featured in Quills. The plays performed were usually popular, traditional Parisian dramas.[32] These productions were also the inspiration for the 1963 play and 1967 film Marat/Sade.[34] The government shut the Charenton theater down on May 6, 1813,[33] though not due to Doctor Royer-Collard's intervention. By the time Royer-Collard had any influence at Charenton, the plays had been shut down for several years.[32] References
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