Quills

Philip Kaufman's 2000 film follows a writer confined to an asylum. His pages are smuggled out. A new doctor tightens the regime. The film makes the clash between censorship and expression its real subject; the narrative makes each obstruction to writing heavier than the last. Geoffrey Rush, Kate Winslet and Michael Caine are in the cast. It is adapted from a play. It draws on the last years of the Marquis de Sade, though the events are invented. Who it's for: those who like harsh period drama. Who it's not for: viewers troubled by sexual content and torture; the film puts both forward.