Geoffrey Rush shines as history's most infamous and literate libertine--the Marquis de Sade--in director Philip Kaufman's adaptation of the Doug Wright play. Set in 19th-century France's infamous Charenton insane asylum, the "speculative drama" chronicles the battle of wills between the sly de Sade, the director/priest trying to reason with him (Joaquin Phoenix), and the conservative doctor (Michael Caine) sent by Napoleon to stop the Marquis' scandalous writings. Kate Winslet co-stars as a laundress who becomes de Sade's confidante and object of desire