Quills

Paris, 1804 - following the bloody climate of the French Revolution erotic writer, the Marquis de Sade, resides in the Charenton Asylum for the insane where he continues to pen his sadomasochistic literature. When his latest tome upsets Napoleon, Dr Royer-Collard (Michael Caine) is despatched to ensure that de Sade be published no more. In charge of the asylum is a benevolent priest Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix) who allows de Sade’s writings as a form of therapy. Coulmier and Royer-Collard soon come into conflict about the treatment of the Marquis and the running of the asylum. But the priest faces a greater challenge - his lust for a common laundress sparks suppressed desires, but it is she who is sneaking out the Marquis’ incendiary prose. Meanwhile the doctor marries a virginal bride, brought up in a nunnery, who he mercilessly abuses. Philip Kaufman (The Unbearable lightness of being, Henry and June, The Right stuff) presents the Marquis de Sade as a mostly harmless presence (ignoring his historical squalidity) - compared to the enshrined corruption within the Church. Kaufman ably captures the fetid environs of the asylum; the barely contained carnal desires of the inmates, their depravity and insanity, inflaming the nightmarish atmosphere of these scenes. Rush puts in an impressive, if manic, performance as a tormented artist, whose prose may inspire acts of passion and murder witnessed throughout the film.