Crimes of Passion (1984)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Ken Russell

Writer:

Barry Sandler (writer)

Release Date:

19 October 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Her name is China Blue. She is watched. She is worshipped. And, she must remain a mystery.

Plot:

A sportswear designer leads a double life as a hooker named China Blue. One of her clients, a divorced man...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Double Life | Preacher | Sodomy | Group Therapy

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Kathleen Turner	...	Joanna Crane / China Blue
Bruce Davison	...	Donny Hopper
Gordon Hunt	...	Group Leader
Dan Gerrity	...	Group Member #1
Anthony Perkins	...	Rev. Peter Shayne
Terry Hoyos	...	Group Member #2
Annie Potts	...	Amy Grady
Vince McKewin	...	Group Member #3
Deanna Oliver	...	Group Member #4
Patricia Stevens	...	Group Member $5
John Laughlin	...	Bobby Grady
John G. Scanlon	...	Carl
Janice Renney	...	Stripper
Stephen Lee	...	Jerry
Pat McNamara	...	Frank

Also Known As:

Ken Russell's Crimes of Passion (Australia)

Runtime:

107 min | USA:112 min (director's cut)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (1992) | Finland:K-18 (1985) | UK:18 | New Zealand:R18 | Australia:R | France:-16 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | West Germany:18 | Australia:M (DVD rating)

Filming Locations:

Hollywood Center Studios - 1040 N. Las Palmas Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New World Pictures

Trivia:

The artwork interspersed between shots is by artists Aubrey Beardsley and Sir John Everett Millais, among others.

Quotes:

Rev. Shayne: Save your soul, whore!
China: Save your money, shithead!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Kathleen Turner/John Waite (#10.10)" (1985)

Soundtrack:

GET HAPPY

Has the crummy, dim-bulb ambiance of a porny picture...

Kathleen Turner is admirable playing a prim businesswoman by day and a kinky hooker named China Blue by night. This determinedly-weird sex-odyssey from outré filmmaker Ken Russell does indeed have the force behind its salacious convictions--it is almost embarrassingly sordid and one genuinely feels for the performers on-screen--but as a psycho-drama it feels half-baked. The subplots, one involving family man John Laughlin with sexless wife Annie Potts and the other, sillier one concerning Anthony Perkins as a sidewalk preacher, only take time away from Turner's intriguing impersonation. Last minute revisions forced upon the production leaves the last-act feeling choppy, however there's some satire here (big city business and stifling suburbia) that gnaws at you in both good and bad ways. The screenwriter, Barry Sandler, has many targets and a lot of interesting things to stay, but the deadened look and feel of the movie makes it all seem like a repugnant gag. Yesterday's kink is today's old news. ** from ****