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Quills

Quills

2000
Drama, Biography
2h 4m
Quills boldly enters the debate surrounding the Marquis De Sade by imagining his final days as a blistering black comedy thriller, a battle between lust and love - and between the brutality of censorship and the unpredictable consequences of free expression. (Fox Searchlight)
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Quills

2000
Drama, Biography
2h 4m
Your probable score
Avg Percentile 55.53% from 1782 total ratings

Ratings & Reviews

(1782)
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Rated 29 Jul 2008
90
93rd
F3 -- Fucking fantastic film. Michael Caine and Geoffrey Rush should be in every film together. Sexually explorative and beautiful in its simplicity and naturalism, with one of the most compelling anti-heroes (the Marquis de Sade) in literature. "I write of the great eternal truths that bind all mankind, the world over. We eat, we shit, we fuck, we kill and we die."
Rated 01 Nov 2012
91
91st
This portrays parts of the infamous Marquis De Sade's life that I was not aware of. It is loosely based on the facts, but embellished heavily. It was however quite engaging and exciting to watch. As usual, Kate Winslet was magnificent. Georffrey Rush was surprisingly good. And Amelia Warner was simply gorgeous. Caine and Phoenix were just OK. Good music. The story was great fun to watch but the ending was sad and felt rushed.
Rated 25 Aug 2008
85
84th
Geoffrey Rush in one of his best roles ever! He IS the Marquis de Sade. Michael Caine as a purely evil character was also interesting to see, should be done more often by him. Kate Winslet was nice, but had better performances in other films. All in all, a very nice depiction of a true rebel in revolutionary times!
Rated 09 Jan 2012
95
92nd
Beautiful film that uses the final weeks of the Marquis' de Sade's life as a microcosm of what made the man so crazy to begin with. The film champions free speech and asks hard questions about artist responsibility and censorship, but it also shows the failure of an old mental institution to cure a patient. Caine and Phoenix's characters seem more content to treat symptoms rather than the traumatic cause of the Marquis' outbursts -- implied to be the thousands he saw murdered during the Terror.
Rated 02 Feb 2007
3
64th
Remarkably classy without watering down the character of De Sade.
Rated 17 May 2011
89
75th
There's something about Geoffrey Rush in a role he can fully make his own that's so goddamn enjoyable. Whether he's teaching Colin Firth how to speak or cackling maniacally at Johnny Depp or here prancing about on a table. The man's a gem, I love how he acts. Quills has more going for it than his extraordinary performance, however. Others lend a hand (Caine, Phoenix, Winslet), and the subject matter is crudely fascinating. Never necessarily happy, but never going too dreadful in tone. Well done.
Rated 27 Jul 2013
40
70th
Very entertaining and adequately thought-provoking, if not as boldly depraved as you might expect a story about Marquis De Sade to be. Geoffrey Rush completely steals the show and brings the film to life. (4/5)
Rated 14 Jul 2010
60
38th
Starts off rather allright, but could not really keep me interested throughout. There's just not that much for the viewer to chew on; Rush's de Sade was interesting to watch but all the other characters seemed uninspired and superficial. Felt relatively tame as well, considering its subject matter.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
1
3rd
Middlebrow tripe reduces de Sade to a poster child for freedom of expression and sexual liberation. See Salo: The 100 Days of Sodom as antidote.
Rated 31 Jul 2008
47
17th
This movie has several serious flaws. Foremost is that the characters lack balance. Sade is portrayed as pure goodness and Michael Caine's character as pure evil. Particularly with Sade, it should not have been difficult to portray him as morally ambiguous rather than a straight-ahead hero. Also, I wanted to see far less of Michael Caine and much more of Kate Winslet and Geoffrey Rush. Finally, the music was poor.
Rated 07 May 2010
70
8th
it frustrates me that it seems like they ran out of time at the end of the film and had to make some sort of "quick fix" - just killing off everybody instead of giving it a happy ending, which I would prefer.
Rated 28 Sep 2012
88
95th
i watched this for two particular reasons 1). it's about the marquis de sade so i assumed it would be as dirty and sex driven as possible and 2). it has kate winslet in it so i figured that she'd flash the camera at some point. i was not let down. i'll be honest here it's not as superficial as i make it sound, this is one fantastic historical dramatization.
Rated 15 Jul 2012
90
83rd
Could the cast get any better?!
Rated 01 Aug 2016
67
75th
Falters towards the end, but raises some pointed questions about censorship and the understanding and treatment of mental illness.
Rated 20 Jun 2012
70
33rd
Interesting if unspectacular and highly fictionalized account of the imprisonment of the Marquis de Sade. The cast are great, but the movie only good.
Rated 30 Mar 2008
74
81st
Dark humour, wonderful performances and interesting characters kept me very involved. The conservative contingent in power were quite one dimensional but other then that a solid effort.
Rated 14 May 2008
50
5th
overacted. painful. feces on walls
Rated 16 Nov 2007
10
15th
points for an astonishing cast wasted on a terrible script.
Rated 10 Jul 2007
88
75th
Censorship takes another blow!
Rated 05 Apr 2009
40
1st
Although the performances are credible, I still felt brutalized by de Sade's shade. He would have been pleased. Merde véritable.
Rated 28 Jul 2010
67
73rd
Nowhere near as uncomfortable to watch as it should be.
Rated 26 Mar 2009
82
29th
A hard film for me to rate, probably deserves a second viewing...
Rated 26 Sep 2008
87
81st
Bawdy, irreverent fun.
Rated 11 Jun 2007
80
49th
The story could have been stronger, but it was still pretty hot.
Rated 22 Apr 2010
80
76th
now I'm one step closer to falling in love with Phoenix
Rated 20 Nov 2008
95
55th
Blazingly good performances by Geoffrey Rush and Joaquin "Bye Good" Phoenix make this a perennially worthwhile movie, even if it's not always the most comfortable thing to watch.
Rated 18 Mar 2012
99
98th
One of my top 5 favorite movies of all time. This movie is fantastic. Rush, Winslet and Phoenix are amazing in this. They all work off of each other perfectly making this a masterpiece! The subject matter of the film is really interesting and Rush's character may be one of my favorites out of any film I've seen. Sure Rush is a little crude in this movie but that's just who his character is, trying his best to release the demons within his head with his writing. I love this, watch it!
Rated 15 Jan 2013
86
94th
* Casting, Acting : 9 * Script : 8 * Directing, Aura : 7 * Ease of Viewing : 10 * Naked Eye : 9
Rated 25 Feb 2014
3
73rd
It looks good and Rush is ace. Unfortunately, rather than an equally charismatic mirror to the Marquis, Caine played the straight-man -Pheonix characters role. The messages were presented (a little too) clearly throughout meaning the final 20 were as unnecessary and unwelcome as a red-hot poker...
Rated 14 Aug 2007
60
58th
A bunch of stunning performances & an interesting story make this surprisingly watchable. It manages a fine line between exuberant, cruel, & not taking itself too seriously. Not as sexual as one might hope for or expect, still Kate brings some heat (& her naked breasts) to the screen, Geoffrey does some non-sexual full frontal work, & Joaquin gets to play a more positive character. The fascination with Sade's work is well developed & not candy coated.
Rated 06 Sep 2012
80
37th
Kate Winslet just getting up in to the stars universe, at my view! Since Titanic she have been growing unlimitedly.
Rated 19 Oct 2012
12
3rd
The Marquis de Sade was an incredibly interesting and complicated man; this film does him the extreme disservice of portraying him as an absurd caricature. It's understandable that films tend to stretch the truth for dramatic effect, but every conceivable thing about this film is historically inaccurate to the point that it makes a mockery of fictional storytelling, even the falsehoods do nothing to enhance the story due to their sheer insipidness. It's a completely pathetic melodrama.
Rated 23 Apr 2008
46
30th
Good performances, but overall quite unpleasant.
Rated 07 Oct 2010
74
73rd
This is really disturbing, but it certainly was a thought provoking film that profited from stellar performances from Rush, Caine and Phoenix.
Rated 09 Mar 2009
83
93rd
A tantalizing, hilarious, clever film with excellent performances by Rush, Phoenix, and Winslet.
Rated 11 Jun 2011
60
36th
Joaquin Pheonix is the WORST.
Rated 08 Jan 2009
76
75th
Many good parts, the leading most of all. Somehow I remember it kind of slipped in the end and I do not remember much of highlights of Kate Winslet's character here... But the provocative story I liked a lot.
Rated 12 Nov 2009
65
73rd
Good film.
Rated 02 Oct 2008
80
84th
Now this is more like it... Politically incorrect AND funny... With a great performance from Rush as the Marquis de sade
Rated 08 Jan 2011
92
88th
Excelente filme, com uma atuação perfeita de Geoffrey Rush, filme marcante.
Rated 06 May 2007
90
86th
Well, if you have to make a film that makes the Marquis de Sade some kind of champion of human freedom, this is about as good as you could make it. Very entertaining film with an appropriately wide sick streak
Rated 22 Aug 2007
65
60th
Good
Rated 06 Aug 2010
38
52nd
second watch. poor & careless acting and production, but votes for marque
Rated 05 Jan 2010
78
72nd
Yeaaah! Fuck Morals!
Rated 22 Jul 2017
67
20th
Rush is always good
Rated 16 Sep 2007
75
79th
Really good movie with a strong cast
Rated 16 Jul 2009
45
8th
I would love to see a thought-provoking look into the life and works of Marquis De Sade, not this average, boring portrayal of one of the most controversial writers in history.
Rated 19 Jun 2011
72
64th
Rush plays a damn good pervert.
Rated 26 Dec 2008
76
75th
I actually liked this movie and the performance of the actors.
Rated 12 Nov 2007
95
63rd
Sexy, sensual, horrifying, moving, an absolutle riveter of a film, impeccable acting
Rated 18 Jun 2010
85
46th
Impressive acting!
Rated 02 Aug 2008
99
98th
This is not a happy movie. If you're looking for a feel good romance with a happy ending, go rent Romeo and Juliet or Saw II or something else. If you want to see a good movie, here you are. This is an exceptional cast working with complex characters and a twisting storyline. There is no absolute good or evil. It's very likely this movie will make you uncomfortable and arouse you at the very same time-the good Marquis would have wanted it that way.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
55
30th
Good actorsin uninvolving and not very controversial story
Rated 26 Apr 2010
72
54th
Memorable, traumatizing, probably hot now that I'm older.
Rated 24 Jul 2011
81
89th
And Rush is great once again.
Rated 15 Sep 2015
95
63rd
The Marquis de Sade was a man who liked to stir up trouble, at a time when his native France was in a state of tremendous political turmoil, and this historical drama examines how much controversy he could cause even under repressive circumstances. He dictates his work with the help of Madeline (Kate Winslet), a laundry girl working at the asylum, who is fascinated by the notorious de Sade, though she declines his frequent requests to satisfy his notorious sexual appetites.
Rated 26 May 2020
76
30th
Why are the acting performances straight out of a stage musical?

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