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Review

Setting the stage for outlandish humor, scintillating dialogue and a no-holds-barred battle for artistic expression, the devilish and delightful Quills wallows in its own ingeniously twisted embrace of madness and sex. Adapting his own stage play, Doug Wright's feverish, witty story in essence details the last years of the imprisoned Marquis de Sade at the Charenton Insane Asylum. But at the core of this blistering satire is the age-old conflict between art and censorship. Rush is delectable as the mad de Sade, whose sexually candid, sadomasochistic works have turned him into the artist du jour in 1790s Paris. He is under the watchful eye of the caring Abbe de Coulmier (Phoenix), but de Sade's increasingly graphic output sends the pious, repressive Dr. Royer-Collard (Caine) to oversee the asylum, setting in motion a fight to the finish to see who has the last word. The ensemble is outstanding, headed by Rush's glorious interpretation that balances depravity, defiance and desire.