Quills

 3.5/4

Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine, Amelia Warner, Stephen Moyer

Rated R for Strong Sexual Content including Dialogue, Violence and Language

That "Quills" is a biopic of the Marquis de Sade should alone tell you that this movie is not for everyone.  Or so you might think.  Actually, "Quills," based on the play by Doug Wright is less interested in sex than in exploring the need for freedom of expression and a battle of wills that results.  Don't get me wrong, the movie is plenty naughty.  It's just that anyone looking for something erotic won't find it here.

Once again, the Marquis de Sade has gotten himself into trouble.  Now a permanent resident at the asylum of Charenton, he has taken to writing his explicit stories as a form of healing.  Unbeknownst to the Abbe (Phoenix), who believes that doing so will purge him of such filth, he is smuggling them out of the asylum with the help of a chambermaid named Madeline LeClerc (Winslet).  Word has reached Emperor Napoleon of the Marquis's stories, and he sends the esteemed Dr. Royer-Collard (Caine) to supervise the asylum.  His orders are simple: silence the Marquis or the asylum will close.

"Quills" is a three-way battle.  The Abbe advocates compassion, the doctor is a censor, and the Marquis does what he pleases.  But Wright and director Philip Kaufman step back and widen the question.  This is isn't so much about censorship as it is about the need to express one's self.  The Marquis must write; it's who he is.  At one point, he uses blood and excrement to do so.  What the Abbe and the doctor do not realize is that whether or not it is published publicly is incidental.  He needs to express himself.  That need is as powerfully conveyed as in last year's indie film "The Forty-Year-Old Version" from Radha Blank.

Not that either man has the right to judge the Marquis.  Both are hypocrites.  The Abbe is clearly in love with Madeline, but, being a man of the cloth, he does not act (a fact that is known to the Marquis, who sticks a knife in and twists it).  Royer-Collard is a sadist who hides his corruption and need to dominate under the mask of conservatism and piousness.  That the director is able to draw a line between the doctor and Ken Starr should surprise no one.

Also explored are the power of words.  In their own way, each character is transformed by the Marquis's writing.  Maddie undergoes a journey of self-discovery, the Abbe finds his own hypocrisy, the doctor has a new outlet for his need to control, and the doctor's young wife Simone (Warner) discovers that she has more worth than being a man's ornament.

The performances are uniformly excellent, which isn't surprising considering the talent brought on board.  Geoffrey Rush finds the right note to play the Marquis: maddening and villainous, but with an indomitable spirit that is easy to get behind.  Kate Winslet has little trouble playing the innocent.  Joaquin Phoenix plays the Abbe as a man who is tortured by not only his own desires, but his desire the help a man who refuses to be helped.  Michael Caine has played his share of villainous characters, but his Royer-Collard is a rat who is rotten to the core.  He loves using the Marquis's own medicine on the imprisoned man, and doing himself what he persecutes the Marquis for.

"Quills" is funny, and has the same gleeful humor that occurs when hearing a dirty joke.  It also has four compelling characters and great drama.  The montages go on for too long (important as they are), and some moments don't land.  There's also a subplot involving Simone that isn't tied up very well.  But the film has more than enough good stuff to be worth a look.