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The final days of Marquis de Sade'Quills' a tortured tale
(CNN) -- For whatever reasons, Philip Kaufman's transformation into a European art house director continues unabated with "Quills," a fictionalized account of the last days of the Marquis de Sade. Regardless of what audiences may think of the movie -- which stars Geoffrey Rush (as the very much put-upon marquis), Kate Winslet, Joaquin Phoenix, and Michael Caine -- Kaufman isn't lacking in nerve. There's enough abuse and vulgarity on display here to satiate a stadium full of Howard Stern fans. De Sade's intentionally vile, sexually brutal prose got him tossed into the Charenton insane asylum for the final 10 years of his life, and his imagery is still bound to ruffle some feathers. The modern-day result of his ungodly pursuits is a movie that progresses from sharp wit to endless rounds of shrieking, bug-eyed revulsion. Just as he did with 1990's "Henry and June," Kaufman is trying to be high-minded and lowbrow at the same time. Think Ken Russell's "The Devils" (1971) crossed with Milos Forman's "Amadeus" (1984), if you dare. Evil jottings"Quills" opens with what we quickly come to find is a fictional grope and beheading envisioned by the marquis. Locked in a cell full of obscene artifacts, he's encouraged by Abbe Coulmier (Phoenix), the benevolent priest who runs the institution, to free his mind of "evil" by jotting down degraded stories. These works are not intended for public consumption, of course, which means that everybody in France wants to read them.
And read them they do, courtesy of Madeleine (Winslet), an amply endowed washer-woman who smuggles the tomes out of de Sade's lockup in her laundry basket. She then passes the stories to a mysterious stranger who publishes them. The unwashed masses treat them as the 19th century version of Must-See TV. De Sade's literary nastiness is all anybody can talk about. This draws the ire of none other than Napoleon, who dispatches Dr. Royer-Collard (Caine) to supposedly cure the marquis of his "madness." After assorted rounds of one-upmanship with his patient, the not-so-good doctor sets about creating a literally tortured artist. His treatment consists of strapping de Sade in a metal chair and repeatedly dunking him into a vat of water, among other unsavory things. It doesn't look like fun, and only convinces de Sade to go to greater lengths to make his voice heard. Once his cell has been stripped of writing material, he actually starts scribbling stories on his bedding, in his own blood. That's what you call commitment. Laughter, screamsThere are moments of great verbal humor in all of this, and de Sade's battle with the doctor is sometimes pitched at a level that intentionally elicits laughs. At one point, a new play by de Sade is performed by the yelping, drooling asylum inmates for an audience of respectable citizens that includes Caine's character. It turns out to be an exceedingly cruel parody of his loveless marriage to a beautiful teen-age girl. Rush and Winslet also share some naughty-naughty conversations that crackle with lust and amusement. Screenwriter Doug Wright (who adapted his own play) obviously loves language just as much as de Sade did. But Kaufman continually raises the delirium ante around the asylum until he seems just as crazy as its occupants. The cast is game, although Winslet is strangely misused. She's a downright fearless actress, and her physical ripeness suits the character. Yet there just isn't enough sexual tension generated among Madeleine, de Sade, and Phoenix's priest to believably engender the final act's litany of potboiler freak-outs. Rest assured that all hell breaks loose, and then some.Phoenix shines in a role that would initially seem unsuited to his skills; this is a real breakout performance for an actor who's growing in unexpected ways with each new film. And Rush, as you might imagine, has a field day with de Sade's shenanigans. He's a casual marvel in one of those roles that all but guarantees an Oscar nomination if the actor stays focused. Rush, who won the best actor award in "Shine" (1996), may even pick up a second statue in this somewhat weak year for male performances. Without a doubt, Kaufman's best work as a director is 1983's sprawling wise-guy epic, "The Right Stuff." It finally brought his pop-savvy visions to a frothy head, and it's very close to the final word on the American frontier spirit. But the film's unexplained commercial failure must have thrown him for an artistic loop. Since then, he's concerned himself with nothing but high-toned studies of art and artists, with gorgeous -- and middling -- results. How did the man who co-wrote the story for "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981) and directed a biting remake of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1978) wind up churning out pretentious, long-winded studies like this film and "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1988)? There's a good chance that "Quills" will generate the stiff-backed applause that Kaufman apparently has been seeking. But American movies would be much better off if he'd give equal play to his unerring sense of pulp. After all, not every artist has to suffer to be heard. If you can imagine it, it's in "Quills." There's a beheading, an attempted rape, a murder, systematic torture, married-but-forceful sex with an underage girl, necrophiliac fantasies, grotesque language, debatable degrees of religious blasphemy, and nudity. Winslet, as usual, can't keep her shirt on for the entire picture. But the fun is effectively squelched by Rush standing around in his full-frontal glory. Yuck, as they say. Rated R. 123 minutes, with the final 15 or so reaching way too many crescendos. RELATED STORIES: Cockney actor Caine arises as a knight RELATED SITES: Quills |
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