Quills
Meet the Marquis de Sade. The pleasure is all his.
Country
Production
Genre
Budget
$13 500 000
Box office
$17 989 227
Director
Actors
Scenario
Producer
Nick Wechsler, Julia Chasman, Peter Kaufman, Des McAnuff, Sandra Schulberg, Rudolf G. Wiesmeier
Camera operator
Composer
Artist
Martin Childs, Gavin Fitch
Audition
Priscilla John, Donna Isaacson
Editing
Peter Boyle
Whole Team (103)
Whole Team (103)
Short description
In early 19th-century France, the Marquis de Sade is confined to an asylum where his forbidden writings continue to circulate beyond its walls. As the authorities tighten control, a clash unfolds between the Marquis’ unyielding imagination, the reformist ideals of the Abbé in charge, and the repressive measures of a doctor sent to silence him. Desire, power, and censorship collide in a battle over freedom of expression.
What's left behind the scenes
- The text presented in the film as works by the Marquis de Sade was actually written by the screenwriter, Dag Wright.
- A committed vegetarian, Joaquin Phoenix refused to wear leather items during filming. Therefore, his shoes were made from artificial leather.
- Geoffrey Rush himself directed the play performed by the psychiatric hospital patients in the film.
- The actors who played the patients at Charenton all received detailed consultations from a professional psychiatrist regarding the precise diagnosis of their characters' mental disorders.
- The real Marquis de Sade was extremely obese in the later period of his life.
- The real Abbé de Coulmier was a hunchback, standing 4 feet (1.22 meters) tall.
- In fact, the Marquis de Sade's second wife, Marie-Constance Quesnet, lived with him in Charanton – she managed to obtain a room located next to her lover's cell. Their daughter lived there as well.
- At the beginning of the film, a wax head of Queen Marie Antoinette, provided by the London Madame Tussauds wax museum, can be noticed in a basket with severed aristocratic heads.
- All the lines from the original screenplay that were cut during the film's production nevertheless found their place in it – being written on the clothes, sheets, and walls of the Marquis de Sade's cell.
- Abbot Du Coulmier’s maniacal desire to silence the Marquis de Sade, the abbot’s punitive measures against the Marquis, including the cutting out of his tongue, and Du Coulmier’s love for Madeleine Le Clerc – all of this is purely fictional, as is the Marquis de Sade’s suicide.
- The props department requested details about food favored by the Marquis de Sade in such a way as to obtain the composition of the “ink” mixture in the final episode.
- Luton Hoo (Luton, Bedfordshire, England), a famous castle, stood in for "Sharanton".
- The melody that the Marquis de Sade hums throughout the film is that of the French children's song "Au clair de la lune." Its second line becomes increasingly relevant to the character as the film progresses: "Give me a pen to write a word."
- During the performance staged by the patients of Sharanton, a mask identical to the one worn by Robert Merivel (Robert Downey Jr.) in the film "Restoration" (1995) lies backstage.
- The real Madeleine LeClerc was only 13 years old during her "prison romance" with the Marquis de Sade.
- The original title translates to "Feathers."
- Filming took place in England from August 5 to October 29, 1999.
- Every single actor who played a patient at Charenton received detailed consultations from a professional psychiatrist regarding the exact diagnosis of their character's mental disorder.
- The props department requested details about the Marquis de Sade's food in such a way that the composition of the "ink" mixture in the final episode could be determined.
- The melody that the Marquis de Sade hums throughout the film is from the French children's song "Au Clair de la Lune." As the plot unfolds, its second line becomes increasingly relevant to the character: "Give me a pen so that I may write a word."
- During the play performed by the patients of Charenton, there is a mask backstage identical to the one worn by Robert Merivel (Robert Downey Jr.) in the film "Restoration" (1995).
- The real Marquis de Sade was extremely obese during the final period of his life.
- The real Abbé du Colume was a hunchback standing 4 feet (1.22 meters) tall.
- In reality, the Marquis de Sade's second wife, Marie-Constance Quesnet, lived with him in Charenton—she managed to obtain a cell located next to her husband's. Their daughter lived there as well.
- The real Madeleine Le Clerc was only 13 years old during her "prison romance" with the Marquis de Sade.
- At the beginning of the film, a wax head of Queen Marie Antoinette can be seen in the basket of severed aristocratic heads; it was provided by Madame Tussauds wax museum in London.
- All the lines from the original script that were discarded during the filmmaking process still found their place in the movie—written on the clothes, sheets, and walls of the Marquis de Sade's cell.
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