Reelwriter.net caught up with director Philip Kaufman as he was about to be honored at this year's Philadelphia Weekend Film Festival, in Philadelphia Pennsylvania from February 24-25. Each year the Festival honors an accomplished film director, or actor with a retrospective of their work. Clearly, Kaufman is in good company. Past honorees of the festival have included: John Schelesinger, Alan Pakula, Norman Jewison, Lawrence Kasdan, Alan Rudolph, Sydney Pollack, Arthur Penn, Richard Brooks, Kevin Bacon, Richard Dreyfuss, and Meryl Streep. "Kaufman was a history major and I would say that history and artistry drive his films every bit as much as plot," says Levin, co-founder of the festival, now in its 14th year.

But before heading off to The City of Brotherly Love, Kaufman was in need of a few days rest. The famed director was recuperating from jet lag after having returned from the 51st Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin. There, Quills received wondrous support from enthusiastic audiences. Standing ovations abounded. For Kaufman, it was a welcome reaction. European audiences were much more in tune with the underbelly of his subject matter than were American filmgoers. For in tackling the controversial writings of the Marquis de Sade, Kaufman laid out a lurid and at times shocking exploration of erotic desire.

And yet, it is not sex itself that Kaufman explores. Instead, the film is a serious comment on repression, censorship, and the use of insanity to suppress free expression. To say the least, pretty heady stuff. But perhaps what is most surprising about Kaufman is that, at times, it is he himself who is offended by the use of sexual material in cinema. "My problem with a lot of the sexuality that's presented in movies is that, in effect, it's pornographic because you're not really involved, inside the characters. You get sort of centerfold sex where there are beautiful physical bodies performing sexual acts. And you're not involved in the way that you should be emotionally."

In this latest foray, Kaufman cast Academy Award winning actor Geoffrey Rush as the Marquis, Joaquin Phoenix as Abbe Coulmier, and Kate Winslet as Madeleine, a naughty laundress who aids the Marquis by smuggling his controversial writings out of an 18th century asylum. In its purest form, the film is a comment about the fine line between freedom of expression and fanaticism.

As Kaufman tells Reelwriter.net, "Part of the theme of the movie is that art can be dangerous and free speech can be dangerous. We know that you can't shout fire into a crowded theater. But the law doesn't say that there are other four letter words you can't shout. In my lifetime a great and brilliant commentator like Lenny Bruce was hounded to death for using the "F" word. And yet, every Comedian in almost every movie today uses that word. So as D.H. Lawrence said, ‘Pornography is that which cannot be exposed to light.'"

In Quills, it's the Marquis who is literally and figuratively hidden from the light as he slowly deteriorates in the confines of an insane asylum. When he is punished for producing naughty, lurid and what was widely recognized as sexually depraved scribblings, de Sade was stripped of his very life force, his beloved quill and ink. Slowly we watch him fall into the abyss of his torment. Without his writing, there is no life force within his soul. Alone and in desperation, the Marquis inscribes the walls with his own blood. At his lowest he uses his own fecal matter as his ink.

The film is an emotional roller coaster from the first frame to the last. "He was a monster, but a lot of that came from the life he observed. He saw the excesses of his time. So, we wanted to make a film that was cautionary, shocking and interesting," says Kaufman about the film's explosively controversial context.

As de Sade, Geoffrey Rush imbues his character with a high emotional charge that one might expect from the actor who first gained national attention portraying the disturbed genius of David Helfgott in Shine. Joaquin Phoenix is solidly believable as the Abbe, a man conflicted by his own inner desires. But perhaps the biggest surprise in the film's lineup is that of Kate Winslet, star of such mainstream films as Sense and Sensibility (1995), Hamlet (1996) and Titanic (1997). Casting her in the role was a gusty move -- both on the part of Kaufman and Winslet. The fact that this actress pulls it off shows her artistic range. Says Kaufman, "After Titanic, Fox sent her every script. But what's great about Kate is that she won't do anything that she doesn't really care about.

If his gritty film was designed to provoke, Kaufman has succeeded. Distributors faced great difficulty when trying to get the picture screened in America's Bible belt region. Yet, in spite of certain critics, Kaufman remains behind his stark portrayal of the Marquis and his bleak 18th century world. "Hannibal set all kinds of records and that's more sadistic and less full of content. Our film is tame compared to 50% of the movies that are out there. But for some reason people are more scared maybe because it's about the Marquis de Sade and we were trying to show his human side," he says.

Kaufman showed his own human side when he was honored at the Festival in Philadelphia where Levin would later describe him as one of the most articulate and forthcoming directors she had encountered. Young and old alike hung on to his every word as he dissected his work in such films as Henry & June (1990), The Right Stuff (1983), The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), and his latest directorial effort, Quills (2000). "He is just brilliant. And the wonderful thing about him is that he is very, very warm and very connected with people," enthuses Levin.

Throughout his career, Kaufman has bucked tradition, pushed the envelope, and stayed true to his artistic vision. That Kaufman continues to explore issues of sexuality is clearly a testament to his own resolve. Like the Marquis himself, he is compelled to tell the stories within him.

In Quills a strong point is made about the battle between free speech and censorship. Can you comment further on that?

One of the purposes of art is to provoke. Let's not forget that James Joyce's Ulysses was banned for years, and finally when it was published in America it was voted by many to be the best novel of the last century. Same with D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterly's Lover", and Henry Miller. And Hollywood's been under attack so many times. You know we've had wonderful films like "Red Dust" with Gable and Harlow. The censorship people thought that went too far. And in politics they decided to have a black list and attack people for political feelings. These groups were always at work, and I'm always surprised that they claim to defend the constitution, claim to want less government and so forth and don't recognize that this is the first amendment. Freedom of speech has a great value.

When did you first become familiar with Quills, Doug Wright's play about The Marquis de Sade?

It was sent to me by Fox Searchlight. You know, usually I develop my own projects and spend years writing them. Or sometimes I work with my wife. In this case I heard this plopping sound outside my door, looked around, and opened it. I heard a little muffled voice and I saw this brown paper wrapper sitting there. I didn't recognize at the time but inside was the muffled voice of Geoffrey Rush trying to get out (laughter). You know seriously, I read it and I was pretty amazed. The quality of writing was wonderful and I just thought this could really be provocative and interesting. But I did sit there a little stunned for awhile because it was such strong material. I hope that I built in that kind of stunned period for audiences when they've seen the movie.

Did you and Doug Wright work together on the screenplay?

I insisted that Doug Wright stay with the project all the way through the shooting. It wasn't in the contract, and it wasn't contemplated, but he's such a bright guy. And as you know in Hollywood the usual protocol is that the writer gets bumped off and you bring in ten other writers. Usually I've written my own screenplays or worked very closely with one or two other people, but it's essentially in my hands. In this case he was really bright and really receptive to change, and yet, I wanted to make sure that with all of the changes everything remained the same. I didn't want to diminish his insight and I wanted it to be in his language, which is so wonderful.

How did you come to choose Geoffrey Rush and Kate Winslet for their roles?

I read the script and I thought I can get the best actor in the world to do this. I made a list of about 5-6 guys who were of the right age, and who could do it. But very quickly I met Geoffrey. One thing about him that is great is that you can't recognize him movie to movie, he's always different. He has that chameleon quality. He also has this great verbal thing. He's a man of the theater. He really didn't start making films until he was 40. So, his life experiences were very rich and deep. He studied acting in France and had read the Marquis de Sade. He is very witty and very articulate. And he has a rugged look, but I think women find him sexy, both his mind and he energy made him that way. We just hit it off right away.

Kate's great, she had read it [the script] independent of me. After Titanic Fox sent her every script and what's great about Kate is that she won't do anything that she doesn't really care about. Our film was pretty low budget by any Hollywood standards. It cost under thirteen and a half million. And Kate could make pretty close to that by taking a big movie. You know almost the budget of our whole movie. And she did this movie as all of us did, for a sort of a labor of love. We all took very low relative fees to what we could get on a big movie. And Kate just liked the material, saw something in Madeleine that was relevant to her -- that sort of lower class girl. Kate is at home with that. She and I talked about swearing and being a straightforward person.

This is not the first time that you have embraced erotic or sexual material. Is this a coincidence? Or are you drawn to it?

In this case the project came to me. But, yes I'm drawn to it. My feeling is that everyone is. If you watch all of the daytime TV shows, and really television in general, they are all filled with sexuality. My problem with a lot of the sexuality that's presented in movies is that, in effect, it's pornographic because you're not really involved, inside the characters.

You get sort of centerfold sex, where its beautiful physical bodies performing sexual acts and you're not involved in the way that you should be with some sexuality. I've pointed out many times in Unbearable Lightness of Being where Lena Olin and Juliette Binoche photograph each other nude; the most erotic moment in my mind is in their eyes. You feel what might be inside of them. We are sexual beings, and I am interested in that, I think it's valid to film. It depends on how it is done. I search for beauty as well as what might be valid means of provocation and not just shading people through noise and ugliness and so forth. I look for some sort of poetic way of showing these things.

Parts of the film are shocking and difficult to watch. Was this one of your intentions?

Of course, anyone who comes to see a movie with the Marquis de Sade in it should be aware that history was much more pornographic than anything he could write. Where a woman being publicly molested and executed in public, with children watching – in a way transcends even his most vile writing. He's a monster but a lot of that came from the life he observed. You see this right at the beginning. He saw the excesses of his period and of his time. So, we wanted to make a film that was cautionary and shocking and interesting.

Had you any previous interest in the Marquis de Sade or had any preconceived notions about him?

I'd read him when he was first published in America in the 1960s. But I never thought I'd make a movie about him until I read Doug [Wright's] play. I just thought it was a really interesting story. It's got elements of a fairy tale. It's almost like the Adam and Eve fable between Joaquin and Kate. The Marquis is played by the serpent and says, "You take a bite of this apple and it will give you the knowledge of good and the knowledge of evil. And you will have to go forth from the asylum and learn that." And people who like the Marquis knew that he is dealing with the demons in our soul and in our minds.

What kind of response did the film receive at the festival in Berlin?

It was a fantastic reception, huge standing ovation. And it went on and on and on. We're hopeful Europe is going to be really, really big. (Ed. Note: Quills showed out of competition at the festival in Berlin. The head of the jury, Bill Mechanic, had been the head of Fox when Quills was made. So there would have been a conflict of interest.)