Quills (film)

This article is about the 2000 English-language film. For the 2004 Japanese film, see Quill (film).

Quills
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPhilip Kaufman
Screenplay byDoug Wright
Based onQuills
by Doug Wright
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyRogier Stoffers
Edited byPeter Boyle
Music byStephen Warbeck
Production
companies
  • Industry Entertainment
  • Walrus & Associates
Distributed byFox Searchlight Pictures
Release dates
  • 2 September 2000 (2000-09-02) (Telluride)
  • 22 November 2000 (2000-11-22) (United States)
  • 15 December 2000 (2000-12-15) (United Kingdom)
  • 10 February 2001 (2001-02-10) (BIFF)
  • 8 March 2001 (2001-03-08) (Germany)
Running time
124 minutes[1]
Countries
  • United States
  • United Kingdom
  • Germany
Languages
  • English
  • Latin
Budget$13.5 million[2]
Box office$18 million[3]

Quills is a 2000 period film directed by Philip Kaufman and adapted from the Obie award-winning 1995 play by Doug Wright, who also wrote the original screenplay.[4] Inspired by the life and work of the Marquis de Sade, Quills re-imagines the last years of the Marquis's incarceration in the insane asylum at Charenton. It stars Geoffrey Rush as de Sade, Kate Winslet as laundress Madeleine "Maddie" LeClerc, Joaquin Phoenix as the Abbé de Coulmier, and Michael Caine as Dr. Royer-Collard.

Well received by critics, Quills garnered acclaim for its performances from Rush, and Winslet and its screenplay. The film received nominations for three Academy Awards, four BAFTA Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. The National Board of Review named it the Best Film of 2000. The Writers Guild of America awarded Doug Wright with the Paul Selvin Award.

The film was a modest art house success, averaging $27,709 per screen its debut weekend, and eventually grossing $17,989,277 internationally. Noted for its artistic licenses, Quills filmmakers and writers said they were not making a biography of de Sade, but exploring issues such as censorship, pornography, sex, art, mental illness, and religion.[5]

  1. ^ "QUILLS (18)". British Board of Film Classification. 19 October 2000. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  2. ^ "Quills (2000) - Box office / business". Amazon.com. Internet Movie Database. 18 May 2001. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference mojo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Sanello 2002, p. 132
  5. ^ Lemons, Steven (30 November 2000). "A Conversation with Philip Kaufman". Salon.com. Retrieved 18 February 2016.