Quills (2000) on Netflix
In 19th-century France, the Marquis de Sade is held at the Charenton asylum, while laundress Madeleine LeClerc smuggles his manuscripts to a publisher. Dr. Royer-Collard is sent to silence him.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb7.2/1059,398 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes75%
Trailer
Plot summary
The Abbé du Coulmier runs the asylum at Charenton, where the Marquis de Sade is confined. Madeleine LeClerc, a laundress there, carries the Marquis's manuscripts out to an anonymous horseman, who passes them to a publisher. His novel Justine appears on the black market. Emperor Napoléon I Bonaparte orders every copy burned and the author shot. His advisor Delbené proposes instead that Dr. Royer-Collard be sent to silence the Marquis. At the asylum, the Abbé teaches Madeleine to read and write.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Quills (2000)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Kaufman drew comparisons between the character Royer-Collard and Kenneth Starr, particularly the publication of de Sade's works at the Charenton Printing Press and the release of Starr's report online.
- Screenwriter Doug Wright called Kate Winslet, who plays Madeleine "Maddy" LeClerc, the "patron saint" of the movie for being the first big name to back it; she expressed interest as early as April 1999.
- Costume designer Jacqueline West created the intricate period costumes, using each character as inspiration, and for Joaquin Phoenix's Abbé the costumers designed special "pleather" clogs to accommodate the actor's veganism.
- In one scene Rush's Marquis de Sade wears a suit decorated in bloody script, which West described as "challenging" to make; it features actual writings of de Sade, and costumers planned exactly where each sentence should go on the fabric.
SPOILER
The film invents a dramatic end for its Marquis de Sade: "De Sade's hideous death in the movie is nothing like the truth, for he died in his sleep, in his 74th year, as peacefully as any good Christian."- Before settling on Joaquin Phoenix as the Abbé du Coulmier, casting directors considered Jude Law, Guy Pearce and Billy Crudup for the role.
