✶ movie review: quills (2000) ✶

Quills (2000)

dir. Philip Kaufman

⭑⭑⭑⭒⭒

To the average moviegoer, I’m sure this film is nothing but depraved garbage. I mean… it is. But granting it the grace to look beyond the sex and debauchery and vulgarity that can only come from a story set in France in the late 18th century, maybe we can find more? 

✶ SPOILERS AHEAD! ✶

So Marquis de Sade (portrayed by Geoffrey Rush in the film) was a real person. He was born into a noble family that dated back to the 13th century in 1740, and served as an officer in the Seven Years War before throwing himself into a life of debauchery! Several sex scandals led to his incarceration/detention in multiple prisons and insane asylums throughout most of his adult life. Like the movie suggests he smuggled several smut novels and short stories he wrote out of prison/asylums before his death in 1814. The movie doesn't quite capture the reality of his sexual relationship with Madeleine Leclerc (portrayed by Kate Winslet), who was the teenaged daughter of an employee at the asylum nearing the end of his life, which was the cause for further allegations of immorality against him. Rightly so. Weirdo.

The movie depicts him as unhinged and, for lack of a better word, quite spoiled–I’d say this seems to be true for his real life counterpart. If his biography is anything to go by, he was a pretty radical individual and of course, an extreme sadist/hedonist, but his stature and wealth saved him from more permanent punishment (aka the good ol' guillotine). Additionally, it seems he held very little respect for women and, to be honest, everyone else, but he’s an interesting specimen regardless.

The Abbe de Coulmier (portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix) was also real, and like his fictional counterpart was seen as pretty progressive as far as asylum treatment in the 1700s goes. At the time, practices like the use of straitjackets and methods of torture were commonly used against those with mental disorders and/or intellectual disabilities, which Coulmier refused to allow while he ran the asylum. He encouraged expression through art and theater, and (like the movie suggests) allowed Sade to write and direct several plays. There are some criticisms of the movie portrayal of Coulmier because he was historically short and, in some places, has been described as a hunchback. Historians and disability activists criticized the casting–it’s completely fair, but the movie also heavily embellishes his sexual repression (which, as far as I can find, there is no record of) and loss of sanity for drama’s sake, so I think that historical accuracy was the last thing on their list.

Okay, the actual review. Guys… I’m going to be honest, much of my memory of this film is dedicated only to Joaquin Phoenix’s beautiful, weepy face and that one scene where Sade writes smut with his own poop. And, geez, that necrophilic nightmare that Coulmier has. Maybe we can find some kind of underlying commentary on human desire as it is handled by the Catholic church and the maltreatment of mental health before modern medicine. But its handling of the asylum patients is nothing I enjoyed seeing, either, and there are quite a few questionable scenes involving the attempted rape of Madeleine by one of them. This movie came out in the early 2000s… I wasn’t surprised by the problematic things I encountered. I honestly feel like this movie is not smart enough for any kind of nuance and exists only as a shoddy retelling of historical events readapted for Hollywood period piece drama. I can’t say that I believe it’s trying to be anything more than that… though I wish it was!

Oh yeah, and there was a weird subplot with a doctor and his child bride. Gross!!!!

That aside, this movie is beautiful. There’s a nice muted green/blue-ish tint pulled over every shot that adds to the underlying dreary atmosphere and makes it seem like it's much older than it is. I really appreciated some shots in this film… especially the opening scene! If you enjoy horny priests, French vulgarity, beautiful cinematography, and historical inaccuracy… this film might be for you. If you don’t… spare yourself the time.

Beware some pretty dark subject matter! Including attempted rape, depictions of necrophilia, depictions of physical and mental abuse/torture.