Sade story

To feed the need for raunchy, X-rated literature, people don't need to look farther than the local adult bookstore. In post-Bastille Napoleonic France, the Marquis de Sade was your man.\nFor the manic Marquis de Sade, putting quill to parchment to write erotic tales was as necessary as sex to a nymphomaniac. Geoffrey Rush's austere facade and the superb ensemble cast blend wonderfully to bring the crazy world of the Marquis to life. The witty innuendo, delicious acting and dramatic theme shifts make "Quills" a sensual yet intellectual romp and a quality historical film.\nFrom the very beginning, the film excels at juxtaposing pleasure and pain. We first see a head-and-shoulders shot of woman, whom we are told is a slave to passion and excites to feel "every spasm of lust." Her rosy face drips enjoyment -- until the camera pulls out onto a 1794 public beheading. The sensuality decays away into scenes of rotting corpses, dirty spectators and a blood-stained guillotine. The primrose quickly grows perverse.\nThe Marquis de Sade (Rush) resides in a low-security French sanatorium, where the buxom chambermaid Madeleine (Kate Winslet) secretly whisks De Sade's manuscripts to be published under the nose of the the good-natured proprietor Coulmier (Joaquin Phoenix). When De Sade's latest erotic tale reaches Napoleon, he assigns a hard-nosed doctor (Michael Caine) to monitor the goings-on at the sanatorium.\nAnyone with an appetite for sexual tension will delight in the character interactions and the Victorian-era's precise, elevated manner of speaking. (The Marquis staunchly asserts that he only enjoys chocolates that are "bursting, erupting with cream.") There's even a surprise threesome between sanatorium workers.\nBut like the orgy scenes in "Eyes Wide Shut," "Quills" shows the depraved and disturbing sides of sexuality that are far from titillating to viewers; attempted rape, masturbation and necrophilia are a few I could have done without.\nCaine's performance as the Draconian doctor is of course the blandest, as the cookie-cutter villain doesn't change his scowl much during the film. Rush, Winslet and Phoenix -- veterans of historical cinema -- all experience stunning revelations and transitions at the end of the film that show each's acting prowess. Winslet's character is a bit underdeveloped, but the actress definitely looks good in every scene she's in.\nRarely does a movie communicate on both an artistic and entertaining level. The creators of "Quills" have certainly taken a good stab at it.