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An On-Set Report from Phillip Kaufman's QUILLS (w/ Kate Winslet, Geoffrey Rush and Michael Caine)
Hey folks... here's a dark subject matter... The Marquis De Sade, but directed by the man that brought us... THE RIGHT STUFF... and HENRY & JUNE. So... having little knowledge of the project at all at this point... though this goes a long ways towards informing us about the project. So... here ya go... Here's Mike...
Here's an on-set report from London of the new film "Quills" starring
Geoffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine and Kate Winslet.
I have wanted to contribute to your site for a long time. And finally now I
have the chance. I worked as an extra for a couple of days on the set of the
new film from director Philip Kaufman. He is of course the director of films
like "The Right Stuff" and ehm... the awful "Rising Son". And "Henry & June"
which was the first motion picture to get the NC-17 rating. As an extra I
had absolutely no info on what the film was all about and the set was
completely closed. But one of my friends from drama school have a bigger
part in the film and he told me what I wanted to know about it.
The working titel is "Quills". The same titel as the 1995 play, which it is
based on. Playwriter Douglas Wright actually won the Obie Award in 1996 for
it, and he has also adapted it for this film. But there were some strong
indications on the set that the film's titel would change before being
released. Mentioned was "The Marquis".
The film is about French writer Marquis De Sade. In many of his writings, De
Sade described in detail various sexual activities that he himself
practiced. Consequently, the term sadism, used by psychiatrists to denote
that form of neurosis wherein sexual satisfaction is gained by the
infliction of pain on others, is derived from his name. In his philosophy,
both criminal and sexually deviant acts are regarded as natural. His works
were therefore labeled obscene and their publication was banned well into
the 20th century
The story takes place at a criminal lunatic asylum in France where De Sade
(Geoffrey Rush...great) is commited. The infamous pornographer is being
commited because of his tales of horror and sexual obsession, and worse.
Sexual crimes. He is being tortured by Priest Abbe De Coulmier (Joaquin
Phoenix...great). Coulmier is not a violent person but he is being forced to
do it by the asylum doctor. Royer-Collard (Michael Caine...even greater). So
why does De Sades' tales still turn up in public once in a while ? Because
of the young maid (Kate Winslet...just as great) who works at the asylum. So
they take away anything for De Sade to write on. But he still has bedclothes
and writes on them with wine, blood, and some things you can't even imagine!
Now Sade is left naked in his cell with nothing but straws to sleep on. So
he starts whispering the stories from cell to cell. To one lunatic to
another. Untill Madeleine, the maid, can write them down on the other side
of the walls. A plan with disastrous consequences for both Madeleine and De
Sade.
I believe we will see some new sides of Kaufman's talent here. The film will
be very dark and scary. With everything from torture to ghosts coming back
to haunt the dying lunatics. And normal people going totally bonkers because
of the influence from De Sade (like Priest De Coulmier does).
And then you ask; Will it have a lot of sex in it ? I don't think so. It
will be a sexual film. But only in terms of the relationship between De Sade
and the young maid Madeleine, who's actually a virgin and obsessed with
fantasies about De Sades' writing.
So the scenes I was in was unfortunately not in the set build as standin for
the French prison of Charenton. Which I heard from my friend should be
pretty scary. I would have liked to see it but it was absolutely baned.
That's why I think it will be something unreal that we haven't seen anything
like before. The scene involved a conversation between the doctor and the
priest. Michael Caine and Joaquin Phoenix. It was at the point were the
priest gets ordered to start torturing De Sade, after they find out that the
maid is releasing his writings.
This looks like a really great performance from Phoenix. His part is the
most demanding in the movie. Going from a noble priest to a lunatic haunted
by ghosts. I'm also looking forward to see Geoffrey Rush and Kate Winslet.
Damn, I didn't meet her ! We all know what Rush can do and Winslet is in the
smallest of the four leading roles, but I think this is something we have
never seen her do before. I mean, curious about sadism !! That's something.
Your MPAA will probably not go easy on this one. Maybe Kaufman did this just
to challenge them. I don't know. A solution could easily be like the one for
"Eyes Wide Shut". We will see a different version here in Europe, and in
America it will be cut to an R rating.
Maybe it's beacuse it's my first work in a film as an "actor" but I'm really
looking forward to this one. Who knows. It could be like "Seven". A film
that just crawls under our skin and stays there.
"Mike"
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+ Expand All
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Hope it ISN'T another Eyes Wide Shut.
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Given that de Sade was imprisoned in the Bastille, would I be correct in saying that this sounds like a load of old cobblers.
Not sure about Michael Caine in the torture scenes either - 'You're only supposed to pull the bloody toenails off', etc. -
Given that de Sade was imprisoned in the Bastille, would I be correct in saying that this sounds like a load of old cobblers.
Not sure about Michael Caine in the torture scenes either - 'You're only supposed to pull the bloody toenails off', etc. -
Nice comment about the fingernails. Har har. :) Whatever the rest of the movie turns out like it should be worth seeing just for Geoffrey Rush's performance as the Marquis. Can't help wondering how twisted his portrayal will turn out to be. Having read "Juliette" (or was it "Justine"? Can't remember - it was the longer book, anyway) I found myself speculating on how much of what ended up on the page was the product of De Sade's imagination and how much may have been based on personal experience. Pretty chilling reading, anyway. :{
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D'oh! I meant TOEnails!! Damn brain!!!
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I could only learn of two other films out ther relating to this subject... (1)DE SADE- an old biopic that is either not on video or out of circulation- probably better anyway, since the few reviews I read said that it was suprisingly dull and tepid. Keir Duella plays the Marquis. (2) MARAT/SADE- an filmed adapatation of Peter Weiss' hit play "The Persecution and Assasination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis De Sade" (actual title- some theaters had to extend their marquees) that was fairly sucessful, although you really have to see the play itself in order to fully understand it. In it, De Sade (played by Patrick Magee, the assualted writer in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) directs a play about the killing of French Revolutionary Marat (Ian Richardson) by Charlotte Gray (Glenda Jackson, in her screen debut). All the actors are from the Royal Shakespeare Company. By the way, the novel was titled "Justine." Ta.
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done the right way. This could be a really scary movie. Is it just me or wasn't De Sades work mentioned in Seven ?
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I'm so excited to hear about this movie. Great subject matter, phenomenal actors. It sounds fantastically dark, creepy, and real. I'm there. Thanks for the report.
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Uh, Stephen, the woman who killed Marat was Charlotte Corday not Gray. Just a quick correction.
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...then read the play it is based on. It is actually quite funny, as well as creepy and thought provoking. I love the play and hope to direct it in the future. With such a talented cast, I hope the film does it justice. The play is available through Dramatists Play Service and the ISBN# is 0822215314.
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And the reason I can't wait is that twenty-two years ago I taught the author of the play, Doug Wright, when he was in my 8th grade U.S. History class. With no exaggeration, he could have been taking upper level college courses as an 8th grader--what an intellect the kid had. He has written for stage and TV, and collaborated with Neil Simon, and his "Quills" was nominated for a Pulitzer.
He came back to Highland Park High School in Dallas three years ago, soon after his nomination, and was a guest alumni speaker at our Literary Festival, where I got to visit with he and his parents. The play shows great wit, with rich depth in its characters. I hope the movie is half as good. Way to go Doug!!
And one last memory. In May of 1977 Doug was one of several students who wanted to know all about a movie I had just seen--"Star Wars." They wanted to know if it was any good! hehehe -
I saw a production of the play this past year in Atlanta. It is definitely a work of fiction, not meant to be taken as a bio-pic of the Marquis, but it is certainly a compelling story about obsession, and values v/s censorship. With strong performances and good direction, this could be a fascinating movie. The big question though- are we going to see Geoffrey Rush in the buff?
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