Sirens (1993)

Director:

John Duigan

Writers:

John Duigan (written by)
Josep Llurba (translation and adaptation)

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 | Painter | Painting | Female Frontal Nudity | Infidelity

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
Josep Llurba		translation and adaptation

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
Jim Post	....	assistant editor (1991)
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	....	accounting assistant
Sara Kaye-Hardie	....	accounting assistant (as Sara Kaye)
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)
• Cecchi Gori Home Video (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• Columbia TriStar Films de España (Spain)
• Echo Bridge Home Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• Miramax Films
• Roadshow Entertainment Video (1995) (Australia) (video) (Touchstone Home Video label)
• Top Tape (199?) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Transeuropa Video Entertainment (TVE) (1995) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (DVD)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (TV)
• Umbrella Entertainment (2010) (Australia) (video) (VOD)
• Winkler Film (2008) (Germany) (DVD)

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 Studios  sound re-recording (as Twickenham Film Studios)

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for strong sexuality, language and some violence

Runtime:

98 min | Canada:94 min

Country:

Australia | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby | Dolby SR

Certification:

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

Filming Locations:

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:One day we're gonna tickle you. And we're gonna keep tickling you all over. Je wil lalso be tickling you.
Giddy:He will not.
Sheela:Look at, look at her goosebumps, you can she she's ticklish.
Giddy:My giblets are free for the whole world to see.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Anyone for Pennis? (1995) (TV)

Soundtrack:

MARCH PAST OF THE KITCHEN UTENSILS, from WASPS

puhleeeeeezzzzzzz

Excellent entertainment value (for those who don't seek perfection in every fictional accounting of an event). You either like it or you don't! For those who didn't like and posted here, I am surprised you took such elaborate measures to critique it to the umpteenth degree. Had the movie been heralded as "The Greatest Movie Ever Made", I would better understand your criticism. However, since it was not, it doesn't really deserve the harshness of some of the posts in here. If your expectations were not fulfilled, its not the fault of the movie! And I'll bet dollars to do-nuts that the majority of the people who went to see this movie went to satisfy their curiosity regarding the nudity. Of all the scenes in this flick that have been talked about in these postings, the most obvious tongue in cheek scene has been overlooked. At the end, Lindsay walks into a building and tosses a hammer to the "blind" man sitting on a cot and says 'lets get to work'............the "blind" man deftly catches the hammer and gets up. For all those whose comments are detracting, at least give the author a little more credit for inserting that, so obvious, yet unmentioned.