QUILLS

Starring: Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix and Michael Caine

Director: Philip Kaufman

Running time: 124mins

Available to buy on DVD 29th October

Jailed even before the French revolution, the Marquis De Sade (Rush) had a reputation as a womaniser and a killer. Incarcerated in an asylum, the Marquis wrote down all his deepest sexual fantasies and smuggled them out via Madeleine (Winslet), the institute's laundry maid, for publication. When these writing of pornography captivated the whole of France, Napoleon sends Dr. Royer-Collard (Caine) to oversee the facility and put a stop to these elicit writings.

An excellent cast can do nothing to hold your interest in what is a very underdeveloped script. The problem is that no real background knowledge of the Marquis is given to the viewer to allow them to get to grips with his reasons for writing in this way. You just end up thinking he is just a pervert seeking controversy in a country governed by Christian values. Geoffrey Rush again gives an impassioned performance as the Marquis and Kate Winslet is as watchable as ever, but this can do nothing to save what is ultimately a very confusing movie that is too complex for it's own good.

Audio Commentary With Scriptwriter Doug Wright, 3 Featurettes Trailer and TV Spot, Fact and Film Analysis & Still Galleries

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