Sirens (1994)

Beautiful, moving film.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Released in 1993, "Sirens" is about a young Anglican priest (Hugh Jackman) and his wife, Estella (Tara Fitzgerald), who are sent by the church to Norman Lindsay's estate in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales circa 1930 to talk him out of exhibiting what they consider a blasphemous painting. Estella, who's sexually repressed due to her sect's Victorian legalism, experiences a sexual awakening after befriending the (mostly) nude models on Lindsay's breathtaking estate (Elle Macpherson, Kate Fischer, Portia de Rossi and Pamela Rabe). Mark Gerber has a fairly significant role as a blind/mute handyman hunk.Norman Lindsay is considered one of Australia's greatest artists -- a painter, illustrator, sculptor and writer -- who didn't pass away till 1969. He was known for his artistic diligence and high output. Although he did a lot of nude works they're hardly pornographic (google them). This plus the fact that his mother was the daughter of Wesleyen missionaries makes it doubtful that he was ever intentionally blasphemous. Some of his works were considered controversial simply due to lingering Victorian mores at the time.Although the movie poster and DVD cover feature Grant and Macphereson, the movie's really about Fitzgerald's character, Estella, and her potentially positive transformation despite possible moral failure. Speaking of the poster/cover, the shot of Grant is horrible as he looks like a butch lesbian more than he does himself (no offense to butch lesbians).Also speaking of the DVD cover, the film has been mis-advertised as a comedy-drama when actually it's not a comedy at all. Although there are a few amusing moments, this is squarely an adult drama about Lindsay's awe-inspiring estate providing the liberating environment for Estella from the cage of religious legalism. I'm not necessarily saying that everything that goes on at the estate is good or morally healthy -- in fact, I'm not saying that at all -- but Lindsay was an artist who naturally rejected all confining parameters; as such, his manor and the surrounding wilderness provide the freedom-inducing atmosphere necessary for Estella's succor from Victorian sterility.Fitzgerald, Grant and Sam Neill (Lindsay) are excellent in their roles and Macphereson gained weight for her first film in order to properly depict one of Lindsay's voluptuous models. As far as the models go, Portia de Rossi steals the show as the more-modest Giddy.Due to the many references to the Titanic and various other sea tragedies some have erroneously interpreted the film as the delusions of a victim of the Titanic, but this is canceled out by the fact that the story takes place roughly 18 years after that shipwreck and also because the filmmakers themselves deny such a claim on the DVD commentary. This isn't to say, however, that a viewer can't interpret the film in this creative manner because film, like all artistic works, are open to the viewer's personal interpretation.The shots of the Titanic are actually metaphors for the "iceberg" of female sexuality that the "Titanic" of Estella's sexual repression was heading for. The message of the film is simple yet powerful: All women are sirens, even those locked in a confining zeitgeist, organization or belief system. In light of the story's context and the protagonist's character arc, the film is no more anti-Christian than the story of David and Bathsheba or Tamar and Judah (Genesis 38) in the Bible.As far as comparisons go, "Sirens" stands alone, but the contemporaneous "The Piano" isn't far off. They're both adult historical dramas released the same year and their stories take place in the same part of the world. While "The Piano" is certainly a quality adult drama, "Sirens" edges it out by quite a margin.The film runs a short-but-sweet 98 minutes and was shot on Lindsay's estate in Faulconbridge, New South Wales, and the surrounding Blue Mountains area.GRADE: A-

OK - where to start with SIRENS? I saw this film again for the first time in years recently. It's a film we used to watch quite often throughout the 90's.Well - for one thing this film has personal resonances for us because we saw the film in Australia when it came out. Also - we lived not far from the idyllic house where Lindsay lived - the centre-piece of the film. Yes - you can visit the house (National Trust for Australia) just off the road between Sydney and Katoomba in the Blue Mountains National Park. We visited several times and always loved it. It meant more that we knew something of Lindsay through his works and this film.This is a curious film - rather a silly film in a lot of ways. Sure - its themes are pretty obvious; sexual suppression and awakening, libertarian/counter-cultural views. Other reviewers have disliked the nude/moral/anti-Christian elements of the film - but I can't agree with them. Sirens is about exploding the myths of the female body and the taboos associated with female sexuality and female self-awareness and it does this in a way which to my mind doesn't offend or depart from the reality of the human experience. You can enjoy Sirens for allowing the exploration of these issues from the peace and tranquillity of your living room chair. Some reviewers have seen deeper themes. If there is anything more it's to do with feminine "sisterhood", bonding and peer identity. But I'm not sure - it would depend on the viewers life experience. Watch Sirens - decide for yourself.The light-hearted way of the movie is upheld throughout by the excellent music, great use of the magnificent Blue Mountains scenery, the easy dialogue and simple plot.The silly parts concern the treatment of the Australian "locals", eg, the old drunk who only says "get f*****d", the leering children and scenes in the rugged bar - where the locals show their contempt for the Lindsay crowd whom they mistrust and don't understand. This is handled in a way which makes country Australians in the 1930's look stupid and ignorant to the point of complete separation from any of the moral considerations of Lindsays artistic world as seen here. It's an unnecessary weakness in the construction of the film. The other sillinesses concern the "throw on" Australian animals; at one point a wallaby is "thrown" at Tara Fitzgerald - it's hysterical! But I enjoyed the film. It's photographed beautifully. It's a simple low-budget piece that relies on its story, the power of it's messages and images. The acting which whilst not brilliant - is not poor. It's not a "great film" - but doesn't try to be. If you want to see something of Australia and a fun film that doesn't take itself too seriously - then SIRENS is worth a watch.

Sam Neill seems to have the monopoly on the rather prickly colonial, what with The Piano et al. His Norman Lindsay is the Magus role in this peculiar, literary flick (with an eye to Conrad's Heart of Darkness) about the pitfalls of dogmatic English manners and morals. Hugh Grant had just wrapped a wonderfully acrid proto-Nazi in The Remains of the Day and came to this film with the career-warping Four Weddings still to do; his performance is sinewy, fidgety but robust. Tara Fitzgerald, a similarly English-typecast carries the weight of the film momentum as she transforms herself through the attentions of the films' Sirens, emancipated women who sit at Lindsay's feet. An opportunity to show off Elle Macpherson's body could never be taken in more exotic surroundings. 5/10

Oh, how I love this movie!It shows us how under the thin veneer of hypocrisy, religiousness, and enmity against all physical lies what God gave us to enjoy: a body to experience happiness, laughter, desire, sensuality, lust, and sexuality. And no institutions (like the Christian church in this film) have the right nor - in the long run - the capability to prevent people from finding out this fundamental truth.Watching this movie without an open mind towards sex or a joyful sense of humor surely will be annoying. So fundamentalist Christians and other prudes shouldn't bother. The rest of the audience (hopefully the majority) can expect a solid performance of the entire ensemble and many moments that make you smile and sometimes downright happy.