Sirens (1993)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

John Duigan

Writer:

John Duigan (written by)

Release Date:

3 November 1994 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Love, Lust, Art and Religion [Australia Theatrical]

Plot:

When a painting is termed blasphemous, a young minister and his wife visit the artist... and the three sexually playful models living with him.

Plot Keywords:

Artist | Painting | Painter | Female Stockinged Foot | Religion

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Hugh Grant	...	Anthony Campion
Tara Fitzgerald	...	Estella Campion
Sam Neill	...	Norman Lindsay
Elle Macpherson	...	Sheela
Portia de Rossi	...	Giddy (as Portia De Rossi)
Kate Fischer	...	Pru
Pamela Rabe	...	Rose Lindsay
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Lewis
John Polson	...	Tom
Mark Gerber	...	Devlin
Julia Stone	...	Jane
Ellie MacCarthy	...	Honey
Vincent Ball	...	Bishop of Sydney
John Duigan	...	Earnest Minister
Lexy Murphy	...	British Bulldog Girl

Runtime:

98 min | Canada:94 min

Country:

Australia | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:MA | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R | Norway:15 | Argentina:16 | Ireland:18

Filming Locations:

Art Gallery Of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

British Screen Finance Ltd.

Trivia:

Although this movie is a work of fiction, it is centered around a real person. Norman Lindsay was a real-life artist and author in Australia during the early 1900s. Several of his books have been adapted into movies, including Age of Consent (1969) which tells a different version of this same story.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the first dining room scene, as Norman leaves the table, Giddy offers Estella some tea. Moments later in the scene, as Tony is speaking, Giddy and Estella can be seen repeating the action in the background.

Quotes:

Norman Lindsay: [reading from newspaper] The repetitious excesses of Norman Lindsay have long been a source of consternation to clean-living citizens of this country. For many years he has painted men and women who seem to be slaves of cocaine or a similar drug which has reduced them to frenzied and shameless morbidity. Today, however, not content with scorning all standards of public decency, he has chosen to profane the most sacred image of the Christian church, the Crucifixion.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Getaway: (#15.33)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

CALLIOPE HOUSE

I enjoyed it.

Having lived through similar experiences while in my late 20's, early 30's I found the movie both entertaining as well as sensitive. I suppose there could have been more graphic scenes for those of a more shallow nature needing to see some models naked and doing more, but that was not necessary for my wife and I to enjoy it- having been there, we knew what was not pictured.

Men, like the Preacher, often fail to see the sensuous side of women, either that or it frightens them. They see "sex" when they should be seeing loving and caring. The movie illustrates that nicely. The two townsmen who come to visit the models are a clear example of sex versus loving and sensuality. The clueless type is the Preacher.