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Quills [DVD] [2001]
 
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Quills [DVD] [2001]

DVD ~ Geoffrey Rush
4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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Frequently Bought Together

Quills [DVD] [2001] + Little Children [DVD] [2006] + The Life of David Gale [DVD] [2003]
Total RRP: £42.97
Price For All Three: £13.73

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What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

Quills [DVD] [2001]
91% buy the item featured on this page:
Quills [DVD] [2001] 4.6 out of 5 stars (12)
£4.88
The Libertine [DVD] [2005]
3% buy
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2% buy
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The Life of David Gale [DVD] [2003]
2% buy
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Product details

  • Actors: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine, Billie Whitelaw
  • Directors: Philip Kaufman
  • Writers: Doug Wright
  • Producers: Des McAnuff, Julia Chasman, Mark Huffam, Nick Wechsler, Peter Kaufman
  • Format: Anamorphic, PAL, Widescreen
  • Language English
  • Subtitles: Czech, Danish, English, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
  • Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: 18
  • Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
  • DVD Release Date: 29 Oct 2001
  • Run Time: 119 minutes
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B00005NOM3
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 10,802 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

Reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
With bedroom eyes and the mischievous smirk of an insatiable roué, Geoffrey Rush is a perfect choice to play the Marquis de Sade in Quills, adapted by Doug Wright from his own stage play and directed by Philip Kaufman. Imprisoned in France's Charenton asylum at the turn of the 18th century, de Sade is a stately court jester in dishevelled finery, and Rush imbues the role with the fierce urgency of a writer whose sexual fantasies are his sole remaining defence against repression and hypocrisy. Deprived of quill and ink, he writes with wine, then blood, then his own faeces--a descent into madness or an impassioned refusal to be silenced? Quills embraces freedom of expression ("such beauty, such abomination", as one character notes) while affirming that all freedoms have a price.

De Sade smuggles manuscripts out of Charenton with help from Madeleine (Kate Winslet), a virginal laundress who relishes de Sade's scandalous prose--a divine irony since she was taught to read by asylum abbé Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), whose desire for Madeleine is suppressed by Catholic propriety. The delicate dynamic of this trio is shattered by the arrival of Royer-Collard (Michael Caine, appearing somewhat comatose), a righteous hypocrite appointed to silence de Sade once and for all. It's all very engrossing as a piece of theatre (which it still is, despite Kaufman's elegant filming), and although Wright's literate dialogue limits de Sade to zesty ripostes and sneering perversity, Rush's intensity ensures that the marquis's plight is no laughing matter. Quills has a point, makes it without condescension and knows the difference between madness and passion . --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com

DVD Description
DVD Special Features:

Audio commentary by screenwriter Doug Wright
2 featurettes: "Marquis on the Marquee", "Creating Charenton", "Dressing the Part"
TV spot
Theatrical trailer
Stills gallery
Fact and film -- text pages

1.85:1 (widescreen 16:9)
2.0 stereo
Subtitles: Czech, Danish, Finish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish

See all Reviews


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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (9)
4 star:
 (1)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars And the Oscar should have gone to ... this movie & Mr. Rush!, 4 Mar 2004
By Themis-Athena (from somewhere between California and Germany) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
Pornographers make unlikely poster boys for the freedom of expression. This is true in the age of Larry Flint as much as it was true 200 years ago, at the times of the grandfather of all hardcore pornographers, the Marquis de Sade; and any movie addressing this particular issue will find itself walking a tight rope. Philip Kaufman, a veteran of the genre, succeeds admirably; albeit using a script which somewhat bends de Sade's biography and leaves out the more graphic details of his writings (thus, however, also neatly avoiding another NC17 rating, which would have been sure to follow otherwise). But portraying every aspect of "Justine" or any other of the Marquis's brainchildren is not crucial to this movie - in fact, it virtually banks on the fact that its viewers have either read de Sade's works or heard about them, thus instantly placing its audience on equal terms with the members of the society in which the Marquis lived, which oftentimes loudly condemned his works while at the same time clandestinely gobbling them down or, like Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine), sent on imperial orders to Charenton to forever "cure" de Sade's "disease," practicing his preachings instead of their own.

This movie deserves five stars for Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of the Marquis alone. Taking up yet another challenging role, he becomes Kaufman's and script writer/playwright Doug Wright's de Sade as perfectly as no one besides him could have done. We see an aging Marquis who, although locked up in his cell in Charenton, is as arrogant by birthright as he is by nature; and thoroughly convinced of his own superiority, has tricked himself into an "I'm only here because I allow you to do this to me" attitude. Having heretofore shamelessly exploited the lack of control exercised by the asylum's resident priest, Abbé Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), de Sade initially thinks nothing of the risk inherent in exposing Royer-Collard for the hypocrite that he is, thereby however ensuring the doctor's enmity even more thoroughly and quickly than he would have been sure to gain it anyway. A battle of power ensues that de Sade cannot possibly win, or so it would seem - although he finds endless ways of beating back every new measure of repression he is subjected to.

Intertwined with the battle about de Sade's freedom to write (and more importantly, to publish) is his and the Abbé's battle for Madeleine (Kate Winslet), the Marquis's ally in the publication of his writings as much as she is Coulmier's prodigy and pupil. Madeleine is in many respects the personification of the qualities each of the two men stands for; but more than that, she is the object of both of their unfulfilled desires. Ultimately, knowing that he has lost all his battles, chained to a prison wall and the Abbé at his throat, challenging the Marquis to admit that he loved Madeleine and to lay bare the weakness he had so striven to hide, de Sade tries to win yet one more time; disdainfully attempting to turn the exchange with the Abbé into the ultimate male spitting contest and thus exploit the limitations imposed by Coulmier's priesthood. But it is at the expense of a lie, and Coulmier sees through him. And whereas the Abbé soon thereafter comes face to face with his own demons, the Marquis is left with nothing but a final, desperate, equally abominable and grandiose act of rebellion.

While Geoffrey Rush alone would have carried the film even with lesser actors by his side, it certainly helps to see him paired up with Winslet, Phoenix and Caine and a well-chosen cast of supporting actors; not to speak of the outstanding cinematography. There may be plot twists that seem far-fetched (such as the "liberation" of Royer-Collard's convent-raised teenage wife Simone by de Sade's writings, and her running away with a handsome interior decorator), but ultimately, none of that is crucial to the movie's central conflict. Superb acting and direction more than make up for whatever minor flaws one might detect in the plot (and even for the license Kaufman and Wright are taking with biographical facts, something I am not always quick to forgive). The screen positively explodes every time Rush and Phoenix face off, and it crackles with tension and barely repressed desire in their respective scenes with Winslet. Great actors feed off each other, and in that respect, the movie probably would have benefited from a more direct confrontation between Rush and Caine as well. But even outside the clash of the film's four protagonists, many little scenes are skillfully used to shed additional light on the issues presented. Just think of Napoleon's court reader, feeling duty-bound to ask "Must I, your Majesty?" before proceeding with some of the more gory details of the copy of "Justine" that has fallen into the emperor's hands; or de Sade's wife telling Royer-Collard that the Marquis's greatest crime consisted in making her fall in love with him. - This movie would have deserved every Academy Award it was nominated for, hands down. Given its subject matter, however, it is anybody's guess why it didn't win a single one of them.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars "To know virtue, we must aquaint ourselves with vice.", 25 Sep 2005
By Kona (Emerald City) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)      
"Quills" tells of the last days of the infamous Marquis de Sade (Geoffrey Rush), who wrote erotic stories that shocked and delighted readers in 18th century France. He is living a rather privileged life as an inmate in an asylum run by a sympathetic cleric (Joaquin Phoenix), where he produces his plays for the nobility. Sade is allowed to write, but not to publish; however, a young laundry maid (Kate Winslet) admires him and smuggles his work out of the asylum. The Emperor, Napoleon, dislikes his books and orders that Sade be stopped once and for all. Sade's paper, ink, and quills are confiscated, and the cruel Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine) is sent to oversee the asylum.

The dialogue is literate and elegant and the acting is first-rate. Rush is dazzlingly flamboyant, Winslet is winsome and sweet, Phoenix is noble and earnest, and Caine is despicably cruel. The story and the brutal way it is presented, however, were repellant to me, and I found it difficult to watch. If cruelty offends you, you probably won't like "Quills."

Kona

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars And the Oscar should have gone to ... this movie & Mr. Rush!, 11 Feb 2003
By Themis-Athena (from somewhere between California and Germany) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   
Pornographers make unlikely poster boys for the freedom of expression. This is true in the age of Larry Flint as much as it was true 200 years ago, at the times of the grandfather of all hardcore pornographers, the Marquis de Sade; and any movie addressing this particular issue will find itself walking a tight rope. Philip Kaufman, a veteran of the genre, succeeds admirably; albeit using a script which somewhat bends de Sade's biography and leaves out the more graphic details of his writings (thus, however, also neatly avoiding another NC17 rating, which would have been sure to follow otherwise). But portraying every aspect of "Justine" or any other of the Marquis's brainchildren is not crucial to this movie - in fact, it virtually banks on the fact that its viewers have either read de Sade's works or heard about them, thus instantly placing its audience on equal terms with the members of the society in which the Marquis lived, which oftentimes loudly condemned his works while at the same time clandestinely gobbling them down or, like Dr. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine), sent on imperial orders to Charenton to forever "cure" de Sade's "disease," practicing his preachings instead of their own.

This movie deserves five stars for Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of the Marquis alone. Taking up yet another challenging role, he becomes Kaufman's and script writer/playwright Doug Wright's de Sade as perfectly as no one besides him could have done. We see an aging Marquis who, although locked up in his cell in Charenton, is as arrogant by birthright as he is by nature; and thoroughly convinced of his own superiority, has tricked himself into an "I'm only here because I allow you to do this to me" attitude. Having heretofore shamelessly exploited the lack of control exercised by the asylum's resident priest, Abbé Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix), de Sade initially thinks nothing of the risk inherent in exposing Royer-Collard for the hypocrite that he is, thereby however ensuring the doctor's enmity even more thoroughly and quickly than he would have been sure to gain it anyway. A battle of power ensues that de Sade cannot possibly win, or so it would seem - although he finds endless ways of beating back every new measure of repression he is subjected to.

Intertwined with the battle about de Sade's freedom to write (and more importantly, to publish) is his and the Abbé's battle for Madeleine (Kate Winslet), the Marquis's ally in the publication of his writings as much as she is Coulmier's prodigy and pupil. Madeleine is in many respects the personification of the qualities each of the two men stands for; but more than that, she is the object of both of their unfulfilled desires. Ultimately, knowing that he has lost all his battles, chained to a prison wall and the Abbé at his throat, challenging the Marquis to admit that he loved Madeleine and to lay bare the weakness he had so striven to hide, de Sade tries to win yet one more time; disdainfully attempting to turn the exchange with the Abbé into the ultimate male spitting contest and thus exploit the limitations imposed by Coulmier's priesthood. But it is at the expense of a lie, and Coulmier sees through him. And whereas the Abbé soon thereafter comes face to face with his own demons, the Marquis is left with nothing but a final, desperate, equally abominable and grandiose act of rebellion.

While Geoffrey Rush alone would have carried the film even with lesser actors by his side, it certainly helps to see him paired up with Winslet, Phoenix and Caine and a well-chosen cast of supporting actors; not to speak of the outstanding cinematography. There may be plot twists that seem far-fetched (such as the "liberation" of Royer-Collard's convent-raised teenage wife Simone by de Sade's writings, and her running away with a handsome interior decorator), but ultimately, none of that is crucial to the movie's central conflict. Superb acting and direction more than make up for whatever minor flaws one might detect in the plot (and even for the license Kaufman and Wright are taking with biographical facts, something I am not always quick to forgive). The screen positively explodes every time Rush and Phoenix face off, and it crackles with tension and barely repressed desire in their respective scenes with Winslet. Great actors feed off each other, and in that respect, the movie probably would have benefited from a more direct confrontation between Rush and Caine as well. But even outside the clash of the film's four protagonists, many little scenes are skillfully used to shed additional light on the issues presented. Just think of Napoleon's court reader, feeling duty-bound to ask "Must I, your Majesty?" before proceeding with some of the more gory details of the copy of "Justine" that has fallen into the emperor's hands; or de Sade's wife telling Royer-Collard that the Marquis's greatest crime consisted in making her fall in love with him. - This movie would have deserved every Academy Award it was nominated for, hands down. Given its subject matter, however, it is anybody's guess why it didn't win a single one of them.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars vice and virtue rendered vicious in relativity of time
whatever the faultsof this very courageous attempt at the life of a somewhat controversial man who was accused of everything from perversion ,satan worship and depravity to murder... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Dr. U. L. Khawaja

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful piece of Cinema!
This is a surprisingly engrossing and entertaining film, which left me feeling like I had seen one of Hollywood's better efforts!

The story is pretty simple really! Read more

Published on 21 Jan 2003 by H. Trivass

3.0 out of 5 stars A DARK AND DEPRESSING PERIOD PIECE...
Don't get me wrong. I generally love period pieces. I did not love this one, as I found it to be too depressing, though marvelously acted by a stellar cast. Read more
Published on 21 Nov 2002 by Lawyeraau

4.0 out of 5 stars Painfully Brilliant
Not many directors have attempted to make a film about the Marquis de Sade, but it seems that Philip Kaufman had a metaphorical safety net. Read more
Published on 15 Jun 2002 by ladynatalie

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark and literary gore-fest
This is, quite simply, a stunning film. It tells the story of the Marquis de Sade, imprisoned in an asylum for his pornographic novels, and of his love for the laundry girl who... Read more
Published on 3 Jun 2002 by curablekiev

5.0 out of 5 stars a must for all kate winslet fans
A witty, dark account of the infamous Marqius de Sade's lurid and perverted imprisonment within a dank mental asylum. Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Hollywood does de Sade
'Quills' was unfairly overlooked- as films like 'The Straight Story' when it came to Oscars last year. Read more
Published on 23 Jan 2002 by Jason Parkes

5.0 out of 5 stars This Film Will Rush Through Your Bloodstream!
This film is a spectacle among spectacles! Doug Wright's fantastic screenplay from his own play, and Peter Kaufman's direction make this film engaging and thought provoking! Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2001 by brendongates@aol.com

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing
Quills is an amazing feast of actors, and has a great story line.

GEOFFREY RUSH ("Shine", "House on Haunted Hill", "Les Misérables, and some more) woes,... Read more

Published on 18 Aug 2001

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