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
Scott Lowe	...	Station Master
Bryan Davies	...	Barman
Lynne Emanuel	...	Barmaid
Kitty Silver	...	Pub Woman 1
Carolyn Devlin	...	Pub Woman 2
Peter Campbell	...	Articulate Drunk

Directed by
John Duigan

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
John Duigan		written by

Produced by
Justin Ackerman	....	executive producer
Hans Brockmann	....	executive producer
Micheline Garant	....	line producer
Robert Jones	....	executive producer
Sue Milliken	....	producer
Sarah Radclyffe	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Rachel Portman

Cinematography by
Geoff Burton		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Humphrey Dixon

Casting by
Liz Mullinar		(as Liz Mullinar Consultants)

Production Design by
Roger Ford

Art Direction by
Laurie Faen

Set Decoration by
Kerrie Brown
Lin MacDonald

Costume Design by
Tony Phillips
Terry Ryan

Makeup Department
Elaine Fitcher	....	assistant makeup artist
Noriko Watanabe	....	makeup artist
Jan Zeigenbein	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Catherine Bishop	....	production manager (as Tatts Bishop)
Will Mathews	....	unit manager
Michael Solinger	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Martin	....	second assistant director
Rowena Tolacko	....	third assistant director
P.J. Voeten	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Danny Burnett	....	construction manager
Paul Delprat	....	original paintings
Colin Gibson	....	props buyer/stand-by props
Bart Groen	....	art department assistant
Prisque Salvie	....	assistant art director
Andrew Short	....	property buyer
Sarah Tooth	....	assistant designer

Sound Department
Alan Bell	....	sound editor
Tim Cavagin	....	sound re-recording mixer
Richard Fettes	....	assistant sound editor
Dean Humphreys	....	sound re-recording mixer
Mark Keating	....	boom operator
David Lee	....	sound recordist
Susan Midgley	....	sound editor
Steve Spencer	....	assistant sound editor

Stunts
Mireille Samson	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Grant Atkinson	....	electrician
Matt Buchan	....	electrician
Robbie Burr	....	electrician (as Robert Burr)
Lara Connor	....	camera attachment
Leilani Hannah	....	clapper loader
Dave Hanson	....	grip
Robert McFarlane	....	still photographer
Kathryn Milliss	....	director of photography: second unit
Kathryn Milliss	....	focus puller
Moira Moss	....	camera attachment
Kerry Phillips	....	lighting stand-in
Ian Plummer	....	gaffer
Simon Quaife	....	key grip

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Gavin Barbey	....	wardrobe secondment
Mel Dykes	....	costume coordinator
Heather Laurie	....	stand-by wardrobe
Ali Yeldham	....	wardrobe runner

Editorial Department
Anna Aylward	....	editor trainee
Nick Breslin	....	second assistant editor: Australia
Jason Costelloe	....	second assistant editor: UK
Susan Midgley	....	first assistant editor
Rob Sciarratta	....	video color timer

Music Department
Rachel Portman	....	orchestrator
David Snell	....	conductor
Christine Woodruff	....	music coordinator

Transportation Department
Tim Parry	....	vehicle coordinator

Other crew
Scott Barlow	....	horse wrangler
Antonio Barnard	....	completion guarantor
Evanne Chesson	....	dogs trainer
Barbara Cope	....	unit caterer
Kerry Fetzer	....	unit caterer
Kathryn Forward	....	dog wrangler
Rea Francis	....	unit publicist
Maude Heath	....	location manager
Jayne Horvath	....	production assistant
Dennis Hulm	....	unit assistant
Pauline Hume	....	title designer
Kim Hunter	....	assistant to publicist
Bobbie Johnson	....	accountant: UK
Ena Joyce	....	watercolors
Sara Kaye-Hardie	....	accounting assistant (as Sara Kaye)
Sara Kaye	....	accounting assistant
Susan Lane	....	assistant to producer
Terry Lee	....	helicopter pilot
Tony Leonard	....	insurance broker
Su Lim	....	production executive: WMG Pictures
Dixie Linder	....	assistant to producer
Andrew Litvin	....	runner
Steeves Lumley	....	insurance broker
Noelle Maxwell	....	unit assistant
Charles Mcdonald	....	publicist: UK
Sandra Mckenzie	....	researcher
Wil Milne	....	unit assistant
Shane Naylor	....	unit assistant
S. Shane Newell	....	production executive
Paula Paizes	....	business and legal affairs
Hélène Ross	....	production coordinator
Ian Russell	....	laboratory liaison
Emma Schofield	....	production coordinator
Jill Steele	....	production accountant
Kim Stone	....	tutor
Neris Thomas	....	production coordinator: UK
Eric Todd	....	oil copies
Tadao Tomomatsu	....	production assistant
Sylvia Walker-Wilson	....	post-production australia
Sue Wiley	....	continuity
Martin Williams	....	unit runner
Ali Yeldham	....	milliner

Production Companies

• British Screen Finance Ltd. (with the participation of) (as British Screen) (presents)
• Samson Productions II
• Sarah Radclyffe Productions - Sirens Limited
• WMG Film (as WMG) (presents)

Distributors

• Roadshow Entertainment (1994) (Australia) (theatrical)
• Buena Vista International (Australia) (2001) (Australia) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Films de España (Spain)
• Miramax Films
• Roadshow Entertainment Video (1995) (Australia) (video) (Touchstone Home Video label)
• Top Tape (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1995) (Argentina) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)  funding
• General Screen Enterprises  titles and opticals
• Kollage Catering  catering
• Liz Mullinar Consultants  casting
• Moneypenny Services  production accounting
• Mountain Wide Security  security provided by
• New South Wales Film & Television Office  financing
• New York Production & Design  digital enhancement
• Sapex Scripts  post-production script services
• Studios CTS  music recorded at
• Sylvia Wheeler Film Services  negative cutting
• Twickenham Film Studios  sound re-recording

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:

Tara Fitzgerald deliberately withheld from getting involved in any of the cast and crew's get-togethers and parties, as it helped her with her characterization of an uptight, repressed woman.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Although the story is set in the 1930s, the beautiful green steam locomotive that is seen in an early scene is a NSWGR 38 class, which first entered service in 1942.

Quotes:

Sheela: [talking about an outhouse] I should have warned him about the redbacks.
Estella Campion: What are they?
Sheela: Small spiders with big teeth. They live under toilet seats usually.
Estella Campion: How do you know if they're there?
Sheela: By the screams.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kicking and Screaming (1995)

Soundtrack:

MARCH PAST OF THE KITCHEN UTENSILS, from WASPS

Good Movie

I had never heard of this film before I saw it on television one night. Luckily I saw it in Australia and it wasn't edited for content. I found it refreshing and intelligent. Set in the 1920's, it's about a reverend and his wife who travel to the Outback of Australia to "tame down" an artist (played well by Sam Neil) who has been creating "lewd" paintings. In the end, the film successfully criticizes religion's hang ups about sex. The reverend, of course, plays the part of conservative who is against these paintings that he deems are pornographic. During the course of the film he has several opportunities to explain his objections. While the film ultimately suggests that he is wrong, it still allows us to understand the reverend's point-of-view and perhaps even sympathize with it. The most remarkable thing about this character was his "some things are best left untold" stance concerning his wife's misbehaviors. This was a brilliant unexpected twist for me. At no point in the movie is the reverend made out to be a villain. Rather, he is presented as an intelligent and forgiving man, who just happens to be conservative about sex. With that said, I do not believe criticizing religion's view of sex was the main purpose of this film. The true story -- related but not the same -- was about the reverend's wife finding her own repressed sexuality while also well-aware of her husband's views which she initially shared. She is the heroine of the film. She makes a journey, encounters inner conflict, and returns changed by her experiences for the better (or we are led to believe). Any review of Sirens would be incomplete if it failed to comment on the sex scenes. They are explicit but nothing to be alarmed about especially considering this film targets a purely adult audience. The sex scenes are tastefully done even if they are built on lust instead of love. If I may venture an opinion, I think most women will find this movie very erotic. Take for instance, the perpetually bare-chested muscular blind guy. This character fulfills no other purpose than to incarnate female sexual desires. Men however will not find this film very arousing. It explores the sexual desires of women not men. But there are plenty of beautiful naked women to kept them interested even if the story doesn't. But as a man, I enjoyed the movie too. (I can't even recall any film attempting to explore men's sexual desires artfully at this moment...) In summery, a very good film that is thought-provoking and well-done. 7/10