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Quills
Fox Searchlight Pictures


7.4

based on 31 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 16 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

Twisted

MPAA RATING: R for strong sexual content including dialogue, violence and language

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

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)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Doug Wright (also play)
DIRECTED BY:	Philip Kaufman
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: May 8, 2001 Video: May 8, 2001 Theatrical: November 22, 2000
RUNNING TIME:	123 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Received three 2001 Oscar nominations, including Best Actor (Rush).

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Kaufman's startling Quills gives us an anatomy of fear, images both silken swift and molten hot, scenes that disrupt and inflame the imagination.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

A savage comedy of sexual extremes; the barbed laughs draw blood.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

Profane, sacrilegious, pornographic, sadistic and Sade-istic, titillating and the most honorable movie of the year.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

It's an unapologetic dazzler, which is why it's never overwhelmed by its themes.

USA Today Mike Clark

Uniformly robust acting puts still more feathers in the caps of Rush, Winslet and Caine.

Boston Globe Jay Carr

A witty yet fiery and, in the best sense, provocative play of ideas about freedom of expression.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Finds a tone that remains more entertaining than depressing, more absorbing than alarming.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

This playful, immensely entertaining movie knows that art is in the eye of the beholder.

LA Weekly John Patterson

Remarkable energy and wit, and is probably the most purely enjoyable entry in Kaufman's suboeuvre of literary excursions.

Film.com Peter Brunette

The dialogue is sparkingly witty, and Phoenix and Winslet are excellent in what are, after all, meant to be fairly one-dimensional roles.

Slate David Edelstein

What the film does have is coruscating anger, impish wit, and a breathtaking style.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

Occasionally becomes pretentious and shrill -- sometimes Mr. Wright isn't aware that his material is so good that he doesn't need to comment on his characters.

Village Voice J. Hoberman

Kaufman's earnestly overblown celebration of the Marquis de Sade.

Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard

A literate, dialogue-driven treat delivered by a cast that truly savors the script's wicked wit.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

Ridiculous enough to be hilarious, but this didn't prevent me from thoroughly enjoying Philip Kaufman's silly romp.

New York Daily News Jack Mathews

The things you can look forward to, however, are the humor, intellectual musing, emotional tumult, superb acting and challenging adult questions.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

Rush is amazing throughout this absorbing, provocative film.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Rush is too sinfully good for the drama he's in.

Variety Todd McCarthy

Lacks an edge of danger or excitement that might have brought the subject alive in more than a cerebral way.

Newsweek David Ansen

Ultimately, Quills descends into overwrought melodrama. But at its bright and bawdy best, it bubbles with subversive wit.

Film.com Gemma Files

Quills -- like the Marquis himself--is a posey, pungent, ultra-theatrical yet weirdly seductive mess which wants to have its cake, eat it too and discuss the whole concept and context of its meal (constantly, contradictorily) while it does so.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

A stunningly impassioned and articulate study of a writer's life and the censorial demons that can strangle that voice.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Quills bleaches the danger -- and fascination -- out of De Sade, turning him into a kind of mad saint of ''Masterpiece Theatre'' porn.

Philadelphia Inquirer Desmond Ryan

It's a work that preaches to the choir, and the song has been more subtly sung in better movies.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Quills is bound to titillate some, but for most it's likely to summon little more than a few Oscars and appreciative yawns.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Censorship, madness, social rebellion and the power of art.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The acting is passionate, but the film would be more effective if it presented a more thoroughgoing lesson in the raging horrors that swept through European culture during the era of the French Revolution.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

One gets the feeling Kaufman was so intent on putting fury and fanaticism on-screen, he forgot about having it serve any greater purpose. Which makes Quills the film equivalent of one of de Sade's novels: artifice, without art.

Time Richard Schickel

This is soft-gore porn, obvious in its strategies, witless in the play of its ideas, absurdist only in its pretense to seriousness.

New York Post Jonathan Foreman

Resembles a period version of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" - played dead straight.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

Soon becomes a sadistic experience in its own right. Experiencing this pretentious wallow -- overwritten, under-thought and overdone -- is a very sophisticated form of torture.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.4 (out of 10) based on 16 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jay H. gave it a6:
Exquisitely produced, excellent acting by all, especially Geoffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix and Kate Winslet. The costumes and sets are outstanding. However, I found it very talky and often tedious and I was downright bored at times. Yak yak yak yak.

she hex gave it a10:
Well now...sublime. Magnifique. I absolutely love Geoffrey Rush and I must say that his role as the Marquis de Sade was performed exceptionally. My favourite part of the movie is , you know...that intimate encounter between the late Maddy and the youn priest.Call me kinky, but I dare say that this movie fits perfectly not only the mind of those evolved in a different manner, sexually speaking, but it evoques sexuality in such a manner that it fits each and every living thing on earth.

S Marjones gave it a4:
*yawn* Thinks it's more important than it is. Why does every “period/historical piece” coming out of Hollywood have actors speaking with English accents? This took place in -hello- France during the age of Enlightenment. It's like casting Eminem to play Malcolm X - you miss the subtleties of the culture in question by being so consistently Anglo-centric. They do the same with ancient Roman films - can't they at least cast prominent Italian-American actors like De Niro and Pacino?!? As if Americans are too stupid to associate European culture with anything other than the British. It colored my whole view of the film, negating anything positive about the performances. Would it truly be that risky if they accurately portrayed the culture and character of the times? Kate Winslet with a Cockney accent – ooooh! I’m so impressed. *spit*.

Gabor A. gave it a9:
Perfect up until the overdone ending. But literally perfect to that point.

Eric S. gave it a 9:
A disturbing vision of the dark side of self-expression. Intentionally sensationalized and deliberately off-color, it ventures to the very edge of the R rating. In doing so, it achieves an anarchy typical of all great indie films.

Wibble gave it a 9:
It may not make a profound statement but i can think of worse ways to spend my time... geoffrey rush is fab in this..

Allan F. gave it an 8:
Witty, sexy, and entertaining!

Quills Fox Searchlight Pictures

Quills
Fox Searchlight Pictures