Quills Review (Or a rant of my thoughts of the meaning of the film)

QUILLS REVIEW: (OKAY IT'S MORE AN INTELLECTUAL RANT OF THE FEELINGS THE FILM STIRS UP IN ME RATHER THAN A BORING DISSECTION OF THE STRUCTURE AND PARTICLES OF THE FILM.) 

*this review contains harsh language and a mature subject matter reader discretion is advised* 

This film might shake the foundation of your morals. 

In case you don't know what a moral is I've provided the definition below. 

morel |məˈrel; mô-|

noun

a widely distributed edible fungus that has a brown oval or pointed fruiting body with an irregular honeycombed surface bearing the spores. • Genus Morchella, family Morchellaceae, subdivision Ascomycotina: several species, in particular the common M. esculenta.

ORIGIN late 17th cent.: from French morille, from Dutch morilje; related to German Morchel ‘fungus.’

 - The abby "Your not suppose to entertain people in your quarters" - Marques De Sade "I'm entertaining you now?" - The abby "Yes, but I'm not a young prospect ripe for corruption." - Marques De Sade "Don't be so sure." 

 - "I write what I see, the endless processions of the guillotine, we're all lined up waiting for the crunch of the blade, the rivers of blood are flowing beneath our feet abby. I've been to hell young man, you've only read about it." 

Quills is one of the most beautiful films about the human condition and the artist condition ever written. Oh no it's a movie about sex and perversion. It's about the Marques De Sade *.* . . . no it's about much more than that. 

Geoffrey Rush won an oscar for "Shine". A weak movie but a radiantly brilliant performance I must say, he deserved it. Although if he won an oscar for playing Barbosa in "Pirates of the Caribbean" I'd of thought he deserved it then too. He's simply marvelously engaging. I can imagine he the type to capture an audience on stage with his energy. 

"Quills" is simply put one of my all time favorite films that most people I know haven't had the pleasure of viewing. "Quills" and "Y Tu Mamma Tambien" (And your mother too?) are both films about that universally taboo subject . . . sex. Penises, vaginas; ideas of things to do with them and the like. Why the earth has around 7 billion people in it all created through this practice yet most people are so desperately afraid to talk about it or dare I say have it, befuddles me…yes I'm in supreme befuddlement about why no one ever seriously talks about this subject in film (it's extremely prevalent in literature and paintings) and I don't mean in the juvenile 'yeah I totally banged this broad at this party bro, yeah bro high five, way to go dude, bitches ain't shit but hoes and tricks' kinda way…but in a real way…a human way. Or dare I say, a poetic way. 

Perhaps it's an intimidating subject…it's a practice that can cause in some people heroine like addiction, extreme pleasure (when done correctly), and without proper measurements creates these little things called people that can walk around and have their own little dreams and aspirations one day.  

"Dead Poets Society" and "Quills" both in a way mirror each other. Because in a way they're both about teachers whose methods of thought cause an ordinary, school or madhouse, to be turned on its side and madness and chaos ensue to their non-logical end. "Carpe Diem, poetry is art, seize life by the horns, and live it to the fullest; with passion" - is the theme Robin Williams pines for in "The Dead Poets Society" and "We eat, we shit, we fuck, we kill, and we die…I write of the great human truths" is what Quills is about . . . not really but much more. And perhaps the reason it's higher on my list than 'Poets' in my list of favorite films is because in a way it's a farce and it has a far sharper cynical edge to it…that and Rush's performance out-paces Robin Williams though I think they are both magnificent and dare I use a big word…transcendent. 

The Marques De Sade was a real man who wrote smutty sex books and also philosophy from an asylum in 1700's France. His books are still widely read and republished today in many languages. Quills is a farcical drama inspired by his life and taken so many liberties with the real man it is definitely classified as fiction but contains the very spark of intellectual thinking that is what makes the Marques still remembered today…sort of the first punk rock star without the music. 

Any woman who picked up that FAD book "50 Shades of Grey"  should probably pick up "Philosophy in the Bedroom"   and pit the two books together in a cage match of perversions. If you wanted to read about depraved sexual activity rather than parade it around as if it were classy, start from the originals written in the 1700's. 

Though the Marques isn't the best writer in history by a long margin, he does have something to say, that's worth reading if people weren't so immature about other people's imaginations…thinking something and performing something, wanting something and stealing something are vastly two different things and there are still a lot of people who don't understand this. If someone wrote a poem about rape and it had a comical edge to it but lived their life like a saint, they might be condemned for writing the poem, even if they lived their life with 'a pure heart' (whatever the fuck that means). It says quite about bit out human society that some people would be so greatly condemned for their fiction and taken so seriously than the actual physical lives they lived. And any human being who says every thought that passes through their head is indeed wholesome, is a fucking, cunt, shit-bag lier, and I'd rather have someone think the most depraved thoughts ever (and not act on them of course; unless they don't hurt anyone then that's fine) than be a lier. Because people who lie are usually afraid and people who are constantly afraid are more likely to feel insecure, lash out, and hurt people. It's a simple fact of human nature. 

The Marques didn't live his life like a saint, but those are the thoughts the film stirs in me. Thoughts could not and cannot be governed and when you bury the dark thoughts, the animalistic thoughts that are a part of the human experience you simply cage them and make them more violent because they haven't an outlet and in electricity terms - no ground. Like priests that molest children when if only they were aloud to love like normal either themselves or another may be less likely to.

But from a society whose religious rights as many, many, many people were raised indoctrinates children that sex is inherently evil…well it does cause some problems with societies. "Quills" raises strong moral questions about religion, institutionalization of society, and human desire, than the simple cock and pussy jokes found on the surface of the film. And of course these should be obvious but I'm amazed at how many people I've met have seen a film like "A Clockwork Orange" and still don't get that it's a social satire about the freedom of choice and a government limitation not to attempt to homogenous human thought and simply think it's a gang film about violence; which is simply just the surface of the film. But then again in a recent speech the President of the United States Barrack Obama said that we should condemn that film that was made defaming Muslims…which was the President of this Country defaming and virtually pissing on freedom of speech and giving into fear because a handful of people were immature and because of their immaturity murdered some people over a bad film. Childish thought. But the film does play devil's advocate and shows what happens when someone hears stories and takes them too far to heart…which is a devastating scene I must say. 

Because the film (Quills) defames the institutionalization of societies, homogenized thought, and religion and asks its audience to empathize with a perverted lunatic maybe why a lot of people shy away from it. Sexuality after all is a lot like sense of humor. It's an extremely unique experience to the individual and is often much more engaging with someone whose thoughts are much more kindred than those who simply 'don't get the joke'. 

If I described the surface plot of "Quills" it may bore you to tears and seem conventional and even formulaic but in the hands of Philip Kaufman's directing a farce about a sexually depraved man writing perverted novels from inside a madhouse dances off the screen and right into my heart, pausing and making me ask questions and reminding me at times just keep telling yourself…'it's only fiction'. 

The themes of rebellion can also be found in Lindsay Anderson's classic film If…. , though that film is devoid of a relatable teacher character like "Quills" and "Dead Poets Society". 

"It's a fiction, not a moral treaties" 

If this film shakes your morals too hard, indeed I pity you. The foundation you've built your life on is as flimsy as mist. Though if this film and its message inspire you . . . perhaps the soil you've build your life on is rich enough for some new ideas to bloom. I hope in your case its the second kind. We need more brave mad poets in this uninspired world yet.