Reply to Topic
Review: Odd Quills: Quills, c.2000
Director: Philip Kaufman
Written by: Doug Wright II
Rated: R
Star Quality: 3.8/5
The topic is obviously dangerous -- le Marquis de Sade was a man whose name became the etymological root for the oh-so-understated word "sadism." It is a word that in today's vocabulary is actually used to refer to inclinations far less violent and insidious than those of the man who inspired the term. There is no separating a film that contains such a character from his myth and his reality, and in this film le Marquis is the warped point of a passionate triangle that sends it spinning out of control. His character determines what path the film takes, and his character is driven by one passion alone -- to write life into his demons.
Geoffrey Rush (le Marquis) is a genius. There's no way to deny his superb acting ability, his complete willingness to let himself go and become so beyond himself that he is larger than life -- and great at it. He did this in Shine ... he was impressive in Shakespeare in Love, and he's at it again, above and beyond the call of duty and with a flourish drags this challenging and disturbing film into American minds.
Kate Winslet (Madeline) and Joaquin Pheonix (Abbet Coulmier) do well. Winslet does not have a particularly difficult role as a chaste and passionate ingenue, which only makes her talent shine more. Her fresh vitality is taken full advantage of for both the mood and narrative of the film. Pheonix struggles some with his accent and in the end it settles into something easy to ignore, and he otherwise plays a nervous, susceptible priest to the hilt. Yet in the end these two play second fiddle, because their story is so deeply entangled with that of le Marquis'. In some way they seem extensions of him.
That said, the acting of all the cast was marvelous. The raw reality of a madhouse, the filth and the ignorance of "science" of the time, are all portrayed unromantically and well. The cinematography keeps the lighting grim but the tones of the shadows rich; the costumes are never impossibly glorious and the visuals are so heavily grounded in reality that it all ends as a great visual package that supports the story and the point. It is the point, however, that wavers, which is why those who would enjoy the film most are going to have to be the most open-minded and unshakeable.
The film is currently being marketed in a confused fashion and that's exactly how it comes out. It is a film about passionate intrigue and debauchery, as advertised. It is also a film about a doomed love affair. It is a film about the freedom of imagination, the will to live vicariously through magnificent writing, and the will to create worlds through writing. It is a film about violent love with true violence and none of the romantic fading away we've come to know from fairy tales like Romeo and Juliet. It is a film about defining oneself through writing, claiming autonomy and identity through telling stories and through acting them out.
It is a film about freedom from the chains of a close-minded society, a film about women and their sexuality, and a film about women and their subjugation and degradation under men. It is a film about a powerful man who takes great pleasure in subjugating and degrading women, and a man of genius who's demons trap him in a living hell into which he drags all others down with him. It is about innocence lost, and innocence deliberately destroyed; it is about the ignorance and violence of science, and the ignorance and gullibility of good people. It is about the corruption close to us and the corruption within us. It is about making friends with the devil and not finding him so bad; then finding him so absolutely horrifying you are conquered and annihilated.
It's all enough for a masterpiece of a novel - but it is too much for this film. Or, the creators of the film could not handle the epic content. It ends having backtracked so many times on all of these points and more -- evil shall prevail, but can be vanquished; le Marquis is true evil, but is just a tortured human being; there is no point to being good, yet goodness should be perpetuated; and on, and on. The sheer numbers of themes within the story and the films constant negating of the very themes it presents creates a confusing picture, especially with all the humor throughout. The humor alone is baffling; it makes the mood seem light and the world seem ironic and real in the beginning, and when the film suddenly turns to atrocity the feeling is that the audience has been led into enjoying something ghastly without their knowing. The atrocity itself is a reality of le Marquis, yet these horrors were never woven in from beginning to end and the whole confused tangle of themes within the narrative leaves it all one disturbing, shocking mess.
One certainly does feel a range of emotions by the end, and the incredible cast, the great acting, and all the wonderful things about it make it, in my mind, a great movie. It is heavily flawed but heavily enjoyable, and it makes you think, and it disturbs you. Just be prepared for some strange thrills.
Director: Philip Kaufman
Written by: Doug Wright II
Rated: R
Star Quality: 3.8/5
The topic is obviously dangerous -- le Marquis de Sade was a man whose name became the etymological root for the oh-so-understated word "sadism." It is a word that in today's vocabulary is actually used to refer to inclinations far less violent and insidious than those of the man who inspired the term. There is no separating a film that contains such a character from his myth and his reality, and in this film le Marquis is the warped point of a passionate triangle that sends it spinning out of control. His character determines what path the film takes, and his character is driven by one passion alone -- to write life into his demons.
Geoffrey Rush (le Marquis) is a genius. There's no way to deny his superb acting ability, his complete willingness to let himself go and become so beyond himself that he is larger than life -- and great at it. He did this in Shine ... he was impressive in Shakespeare in Love, and he's at it again, above and beyond the call of duty and with a flourish drags this challenging and disturbing film into American minds.
Kate Winslet (Madeline) and Joaquin Pheonix (Abbet Coulmier) do well. Winslet does not have a particularly difficult role as a chaste and passionate ingenue, which only makes her talent shine more. Her fresh vitality is taken full advantage of for both the mood and narrative of the film. Pheonix struggles some with his accent and in the end it settles into something easy to ignore, and he otherwise plays a nervous, susceptible priest to the hilt. Yet in the end these two play second fiddle, because their story is so deeply entangled with that of le Marquis'. In some way they seem extensions of him.
That said, the acting of all the cast was marvelous. The raw reality of a madhouse, the filth and the ignorance of "science" of the time, are all portrayed unromantically and well. The cinematography keeps the lighting grim but the tones of the shadows rich; the costumes are never impossibly glorious and the visuals are so heavily grounded in reality that it all ends as a great visual package that supports the story and the point. It is the point, however, that wavers, which is why those who would enjoy the film most are going to have to be the most open-minded and unshakeable.
The film is currently being marketed in a confused fashion and that's exactly how it comes out. It is a film about passionate intrigue and debauchery, as advertised. It is also a film about a doomed love affair. It is a film about the freedom of imagination, the will to live vicariously through magnificent writing, and the will to create worlds through writing. It is a film about violent love with true violence and none of the romantic fading away we've come to know from fairy tales like Romeo and Juliet. It is a film about defining oneself through writing, claiming autonomy and identity through telling stories and through acting them out.
It is a film about freedom from the chains of a close-minded society, a film about women and their sexuality, and a film about women and their subjugation and degradation under men. It is a film about a powerful man who takes great pleasure in subjugating and degrading women, and a man of genius who's demons trap him in a living hell into which he drags all others down with him. It is about innocence lost, and innocence deliberately destroyed; it is about the ignorance and violence of science, and the ignorance and gullibility of good people. It is about the corruption close to us and the corruption within us. It is about making friends with the devil and not finding him so bad; then finding him so absolutely horrifying you are conquered and annihilated.
It's all enough for a masterpiece of a novel - but it is too much for this film. Or, the creators of the film could not handle the epic content. It ends having backtracked so many times on all of these points and more -- evil shall prevail, but can be vanquished; le Marquis is true evil, but is just a tortured human being; there is no point to being good, yet goodness should be perpetuated; and on, and on. The sheer numbers of themes within the story and the films constant negating of the very themes it presents creates a confusing picture, especially with all the humor throughout. The humor alone is baffling; it makes the mood seem light and the world seem ironic and real in the beginning, and when the film suddenly turns to atrocity the feeling is that the audience has been led into enjoying something ghastly without their knowing. The atrocity itself is a reality of le Marquis, yet these horrors were never woven in from beginning to end and the whole confused tangle of themes within the narrative leaves it all one disturbing, shocking mess.
One certainly does feel a range of emotions by the end, and the incredible cast, the great acting, and all the wonderful things about it make it, in my mind, a great movie. It is heavily flawed but heavily enjoyable, and it makes you think, and it disturbs you. Just be prepared for some strange thrills.