5. Quills (2000)
Any film that deals with the life and times of the Marquis de Sade is bound to be worth a few kinky thrills. This period drama is based on the final years of the world's favourite pervert. It is not factually accurate but the makers of the film said they were more interested in making statements about porn, sex, mental illness, art and censorship rather than a strict biography. The story basically concerns the Marquis de Sade and his incarceration in an asylum. Some seek to help him with his work (Maddy - a young laundress who smuggles his works out to the black market) and others seek to shut him up (Dr Royer-Collard under the auspices of Napoleon). He is a rather irrepressible old bugger and those who come into contact with him find their lives tied up in knots. Eventually the authorities crack down on him but he goes down in a blaze of blasphemous glory and at the end we see the perpetuation of his writings. One thing immediately springs to mind - the Marquis de Sade was true to his own sexual perversions and lived them out in the open very proudly. Dr Royer-Collard who is sent to cure him marries a girl young enough to be his grand daughter and inflicts all sorts of sexual degradations on her but of course this is hush hush. The film doesn't delve deep into de Sade's tortured genius mind but rather explores the impact his writing had upon the public. I have read a lot of de Sade and director Phillip Kaufman does a good job of preventing the movie from going into the downright disturbing. The film is a plea for artistic and religious freedom as well as the freedom of speech. Plus it has some pretty strong kinkiness to sustain viewer interest.