Sirens is one of those rare films that manages to be tastefully erotic, portraying sensuality as a natural and life-affirming way of being. I've seen this film three times and enjoyed it very much on each occasion, partly because I am sympathetic to the point of view of the character who most sets the tone of the film: Australian painter, Norman Lindsay. He's my kind of guy!

Historical Background: Australian artist Norman Lindsay was born in 1879 in Cheswick, Victoria. He was sickly as a child and restricted in his physical activity, so he took up drawing. He had something of an innate gift, evidenced by the fact that three of his brothers and one of his sisters also became artists. In 1901, Lindsay took a job as a staff illustrator for the Sydney Bulletin, drawing cartoons and caricatures, and would continue making contributions to the magazine for over fifty years.

Lindsay was a man whose models and mistresses were often one and the same. Rose Soady began modeling for Lindsay in 1902 and later became his second wife. In 1909, Lindsay went to London, where he resided for two years, long enough to witness the publication of one-hundred of his drawings as The Satyricon of Petronious Arbiter, later republished in 1922. After returning to Australia, Lindsay moved to the Blue Mountain region of South Wales, where he remained until his death, except for some brief periods. Lindsay lived at the estate which was used for the filming of Sirens (1993). Much of the furniture of the estate was designed, carved, and decorated by Lindsay. He also made the sculptures that adorn the yard. Lindsay's drawing called The Crucified Venus really did cause an uproar, as depicted in the film. The drawing was temporarily removed from an exhibition in Melbourne, but was restored after the President of the Society of Artists threatened to take down all of the paintings. Three cheers for artistic freedom!

The Story: As the story begins, the central character appears to be Anthony Campion (Hugh Grant), a young Anglican clergyman, who has recently arrived in Australia from England. He and his somewhat priggish wife, Estella (Tara Fitzgerald), are on their way to Campion's new parish, but have been asked by the Bishop of Sydney (Vincent Ball) to pay a visit, on their way, to the artist, Norman Lindsay (Sam Neill). There's an exhibition of the works of various Australian artists due to open soon in Sydney and one of Lindsay's drawings seems likely to cause a great scandal. All of Lindsay's work is erotic and, in the eyes of the Bishop, "vulgar," but one, he feels, goes beyond mere vulgarity to blasphemy. The drawing, called "The Crucified Venus," depicts a voluptuous, naked woman being crucified on a cross in the manner of Jesus.

Lindsay resides on a magnificent estate in the Blue Mountains in South Wales. The Campion's arrival in the small, hick town nearby is inauspicious from the beginning. The town's only taxi driver is not working that day because he's attending a funeral – his own. The Campions have a pretty fair amount of luggage, including a heavy trunk. They have to traipse with it down to the local tavern to see if they can scrounge a ride. On there way, they walk past a local drunk who exclaims to the proper Estella, repeatedly, "Get fucked!" In the tavern, they encounter an assortment of rough, vulgar characters, several with toothless grins and all with dirty hands and clothing. They are advised that the tavern is for men only, but that Estella can join the ladies in the back room. The Campions are able, finally, to explain their situation and are offered a ride in a pickup truck by a couple of scruffy young men. There's only room enough for Estella in the cab with the two locals, and the gearshift has to be rammed between her knees whenever the driver has to shift into second. Tony has to ride in the back of the truck with the luggage and is soon nauseated by the vehicle's gyrations on the rough, dirt road. When they finally arrive at the Lindsay estate, the Campions are exhausted, but no one is to be seen. A note indicates that the residents have gone out for a picnic. The Campions fall asleep, beside their luggage, on the lawn. A large snake sidles past them. Obviously, this prudish young couple is in for some culture shock!

The residents of the Lindsay estate include the artist, his wife Rose (Pamela Rabe), their two daughters, Honey and Jane, two professional models, Sheela (Elle Macpherson) and Pru (Kate Fischer), and an adolescent girl named Giddy (Portia de Rossi) who functions as both maid and part-time model. Giddy is at the stage of sexual awakening, while the two older models are considerably more sexually awake than the average person. They are sensual critters who enjoy nothing more than bathing in the nude and discussing their sexual fantasies. Giddy thinks them vulgar and yet is fascinated by their obvious sense of ease with their bodies. Rose, though older than the models, is a beautiful middle-aged woman who still poses for her husband's paintings. She's an outspoken feminist and fully in sympathy with her husband's progressive views. It was Rose, in fact, who posed for the drawing causing all the controversy back in Sydney. The two Lindsay children are obviously healthy and happy and fully integrated into the liberal life style of their parents.

The Lindsay estate is like a modern Garden of Eden in many ways. It is adorned with fountains and pools and beautiful Grecian statues. Wallabies, snakes, toads, and other fauna roam freely through the adjacent wild and across the lawns. Lindsay knows perfectly well why Tony has been sent to visit and he's more than happy to engage Tony in debate, relishing the opportunity to shake up the young man's complacency with his irreverent views. While Tony is thus preoccupied, the models, Sheela in particular, set out to "liberate" Estella from her constricting prudery. Estella is invited to join the ladies for a swim in a natural pool. Sheela and Pru swim in the buff, while both Giddy and Estella retain their sense of decorum. The scene takes on an increasingly erotic charge when a man, Devlin (Mark Gerber), comes by and approaches the pool. Devlin is a well-built, handsome man of stud-like proportions. He's an ex-prize fighter who is nearly blind from the beatings that he once took in the ring. All he can see are blurs of dark and light patches. The models therefore feel no compunction about standing naked in front of him as he approaches the water's edge for a drink. Estella is simultaneous shocked and fascinated.

The Campion's visit, which was supposed to be for just a day, gets extended when a train derails, cutting off the train service for a few days. The combination of the lush Australian landscape and the Lindsay's uninhibited lifestyle therefore has more time to work its magic on the Campions. Tony remains mostly resolute, in his Christian reserve, though he permits himself to feel the flattery of Giddy's warm, almost flirtatious, support for his views during the dinnertime conversations. Estella, on the other hand, finds herself being drawn into the easy eroticism of the women around her. Estella discovers Sheela trying on her clothes as though that were the most natural thing in the world. Later, Estella spies on Sheela and Pru playing strip poker with two wide-eyed local boys they are dating (despite the sheep poop under the boys' nails). One morning, Estella awakens to discover Sheela had been quietly watching her as she slept. Later, Estella watches the three models posing for Lindsay, with all but Giddy completely naked. Estella warns her husband, "Sometimes I think you have too high an opinion of me," but the poor boy has no idea what she means.

The next morning, Estella heads off to the pool by herself, and discovers Devlin lying on the rocks stark naked and stretched out like an Adonis. He can't see who is observing him but his hearing is keen. He throws a knife in her direction, catching the tree behind which Estella is lurking. Then, when Devlin's dog starts snarling at her, Estella runs off in a panic, losing her hat in the process, as much from her own awakened erotic impulses as from fear of Devlin. Estella gets lost but comes to the driveway of the estate and catches a ride with the three models. They are headed into town. In town, at the tavern, they encounter the bigotry of the locals, but finally coerce beers from the bartender. Then, they watch a local girl playing a provocative game of "catch-me-if-you-can" with a group of boys. Meanwhile, back on the estate, Tony is patiently explaining to Rose that his wife is nothing like these other women.

Back at the pool, Estella and the three models take a dip. Sheela and Pru begin "tickling" Giddy, though it is really a good deal more like "caressing" her. Estella decides to join in. Tony, who is out for a walk, spies the four women from a ledge, far above and is shocked to see his wife participating in this sensual, though innocent enough, activity. Tony races back to the compound, in shock. Later, as the women are on the path, they spy Devlin approaching, carrying Estella's hat. Sheela and Pru now surmise why Estella had been so flustered when they had picked her up the previous day on the driveway. They playfully tie Estella's hands behind a tree as Devlin approaches. She has to ask plaintively, "Excuse me, would you please untie me?" Since he is blind, he has to feel his way to her hands. Though he unties her in as gentlemanly a way as the circumstances permit, Estella nevertheless feels the full erotic charge inherent in the situation.

When Estella finally makes her way back to the household, Tony suggests that they go to Evensong (the evening church service), "in light of the day's activities," of which he cannot otherwise speak. Estella agrees. During the service, Estella's mind is flooded with a maze of erotic images relating to her recent experiences. She suddenly imagines that she is totally naked, among the clothed parishioners, and begins sobbing, in panic.

Giddy has decided to take the inevitable plunge and explore her sexuality. Devlin is the object of her lustful desires. Devlin also poses for Lindsay, to guide the drawing of some of the male characters in the paintings. During such times, Devlin sleeps, at night, in the studio. Giddy gets herself so drunk, in preparation for offering herself to Devlin, that it is all Estella can do to put her to bed. After doing so, Estella heads to the studio herself, where she soon encounters Devlin. Estella is flush with excitement and puts her hands behind her back, reenacting the earlier scene in which she was tied to the tree. She allows Devlin to caress and explore her body.

In the morning, Estella heads off for a swim and encounters an angry Giddy. Giddy had awoken during the night and headed to the studio, only to discover that Devlin was "doing it with somebody else." Giddy had assumed that it was either Sheela or Pru, never imagining that it could be Estella. That night, Estella sends Giddy in her own stead for her repeat rendezvous with Devlin. Meanwhile, poor Tony still has to divert his eyes when he walks in on the women modeling, managing just a few quick peeks.

As the Campion's visit draws to a close, Tony makes the shocking discovery that Lindsay has incorporated Estella into one of his erotic paintings, showing her stretched out and fully in the flesh. Tony is irate and has threatened to take legal action unless Estella's likeness is painted over. Lindsay calmly suggests that they ask Estella. "You'd better have a look," Tony says, to Estella, anticipating her outrage. Estella dutifully examines the painting, examines it some more, and, then, calmly says to her husband, "It's a good likeness." Later, as the train chugs away, with the Campions onboard, Stella, sitting opposite her husband in a compartment where the rest of the passengers are asleep, puts her foot playfully in his crotch, forcing a nervous giggle from the pastor.

Themes: Sirens is basically about sexual awakenings, both through the agency of puberty (for Giddy) and by liberation from excesses of prudery (for Estella). At first, we think the film is about censorship and Tony having to ask Lindsay if he wouldn't terribly mind withdrawing the most offensive of his exhibition pieces. Instead, the would-be converters become the converted and we all sense that the Campion's marriage will be the better for the lesson. Estella has escaped the excesses of her demure modesty and is now in touch with her feminine sexuality and, by gum, she's going to drag her husband along with her. What Estella came to realize, during the visit to the Lindsay estate, is that the progressive lifestyle of the family was based on a genuine appreciation for the beauty of the human body and its embodiment, literally, of everything that is positive about human existence. The nudity and comfortable eroticism of this film is neither exploitive nor mainly voyeuristic, unless a given viewer brings those elements to the film by their own agency. In fact, the nudity and sensuality encompassed in this film is entirely consistent with feminist perspectives, as the character Rose makes abundantly clear.

Production Values: Sirens was directed by Australian director John Duigan, who was born June 19th, 1949 in Hartley Wintney, Hampshire, England. Duigan's father was an Australian by birth and John emigrated from England to Australia in 1961. There, Duigan took up filmmaking. After an unremarkable debut film, Duigan made a strong impression with his next two: The Trespassers (1976) and Mouth to Mouth (1978). Duigan also wrote the scripts for both films. In 1988, Duigan began his so-called Embling trilogy, a set of films examining the life of a character named Danny Embling (played each time by actor Noah Taylor), at three different stages of his life. The first in the series, The Year My Voice Broke, was a coming-of-age story. The second segment was the much acclaimed film, Flirting (1991). The third film has yet to be made. Since making Sirens, in 1993, Duigan went on to make The Journey of August King (1995), Lawn Dogs (1997), Molly (1999), Paranoid (2000), The Parole Officer (2001), and Head in the Clouds (2004).

Though the film is about a real-life person, Norman Lindsay, it makes no attempt to be strictly autobiographical. It draws more on the reputation of the man than on actual events of his life. Lindsay, his wife, and their two children are the only historical figures in the film. The controversy regarding his drawing "The Crucified Venus" is based on fact and the film was shot at the actual Lindsay's estate. Lindsay, a freethinker, was notorious for his progressive ideas about sex and nudity. Otherwise, the characters and the particulars of the script are fictional.

Sirens is a beautifully composed and photographed film. Geoff Burton, the cinematographer, made marvelous use of the exquisite grounds at the Lindsay estate. Idyllic pools and moonlit evenings can't help but please. Everywhere, in the film, the flora and fauna of Australia abound in luxuriant splendor. The human fauna aren't half bad either. The artworks appearing in the film were all genuine products of Lindsay's genius.

Hugh Grant does the proper young man under duress perhaps better than any other actor. He knows how to stammer and wince and generally convey an uneasiness with liberality. Grant is best known for his work in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Notting Hill (1999), Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), Two Weeks Notice (2002), and Love Actually (2003). The talented and mellow Sam Neill plays the friendly, Bohemian adversary convincingly. Neill's other work includes roles in My Brilliant Career (1979), Plenty (1985), A Cry in the Dark (1988), Dead Calm (1989), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Until the End of the World (1991), The Piano (1993), Jurassic Park (1993), and The Horse Whisperer (1998). The hunky Mark Gerber provides heterosexual, female viewers with a share of the erotic goodies. This film really is more about feminine sexuality than male sexuality.

Among the women in the film, Elle Macpherson is perhaps best known, though more as a centerfold than an actress. She manages to hold her own in a not too challenging part. I imagine that many viewers would have been more than happy to hold them for her. Tara Fitzgerald is the film's revelation. She's very convincing both in her initial priggishness and her burgeoning sensuality. She also appeared in Hear My Song (1991) and Brassed Off! (1996). Also excellent were Portia de Rossi as Giddy and Pamela Rabe as the liberated wife. Rade later performed in The Well (1999).

Bottom-Line: Duigan is clearly sympathetic with the Lindsay's lifestyle. Viewers who are likewise sympathetic will respond enthusiastically to this movie while those who are attached to ideas like modesty, chastity, sexual guilt, and religious piety will experience the film as shallow and empty. It's not primarily about either romance or sexuality, but rather about comfort with the naturalness of sensuality. The Miramax DVD comes with no extras, but provides a richly hued transfer and Dolby surround sound. I highly recommend this film for both male and female viewers who have positive feelings about eroticism and sensuality, as well as a willingness to enjoy a few laughs at the expense of religious pieties.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age