Young actress Kate Winslet has admitted that it was a wrench to leave Mia behind and confessed that she is taking seven months off to spend time with her. "Children are the most important thing to me. It's just not about being a famous actor. It's about privacy and my own life - and now Mia. Winslet was joined by Quill co-stars Michael Caine and Joaquin Phoenix, who presence thrilled the scores of gathered fans. Quills, directed by Philip Kaufman, is based on the life of the notorious Marquis de Sade, and is already attracting talk of Oscar nominations next spring. The core theme of the resilience of artistic expression in the face of censorship lends Quills a certain timelessness. Kaufman, who has tested a few boundaries with films like The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Henry & June, would seem to be the right candidate to deal with the Marquis' madness. The 25-year-old Titanic star plays Madeline LeCrec, the chambermaid who smuggles the Marquis de Sade's last writings out of the mental asylum where he was confined and where he died. Winslet instills complexity into the role of the woman who aids and abets the Marquis' cause, as does Phoenix as the conflicted priest, while veteran Caine as the avenging doctor sent by Napolean, is more hampered by the character's one-dimensional, antagonistic function.
Among other films premiered at the London Film Festival were Cameron Crowe's much-hyped Almost Famous and the latest Merchant Ivory offering, The Golden Bowl. Bureau Report