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Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Sam Neill, Elle Macpherson, Portia de Rossi ... see more see more... , Kate Fischer , Pamela Rabe , Ben Mendelsohn , John Polson , Mark Gerber , Julia Stone , Ellie MacCarthy , Vincent Ball , John Duigan , Peter Campbell

Sex, religion, and morality are the key ingredients in this Australian comedy set in the 1930s. Rev. Anthony Campion (Hugh Grant) is a liberal, forward-thinking Anglican priest who is sent on an unusu... read more read more...al assignment. Norman Lindsay (Sam Neill) is a popular and highly controversial artist whose paintings often feature voluptuous nude women; his latest major exhibition is to feature a work called The Crucified Venus, which depicts a naked female impaled on a cross. Outraged, the Anglican Bishop of Sydney wants Campion to visit Lindsay and persuade him to remove the work from his show. Rev. Campion and his wife, Estella (Tara Fitzgerald), travel to Lindsay's Blue Mountain estate, where the artist is hard at work with a bevy of lovely nude models in tow, including Sheela (Elle MacPherson), Giddy (Portia de Rossi), and Pru (Kate Fischer). The Reverend is quietly appalled by the open sensuality of Lindsay's household, and Estella is mortified; they're even more upset when Lindsay calmly but firmly refuses to remove The Crucified Venus from his show. However, the longer the Campions stay with Lindsay in hopes of changing his mind, the more they find themselves drawn into the sensuous pleasures of his world. Sirens was based on an actual incident and Norman Lindsay was a real artist of the period (his life was depicted in the film Age of Consent, in which he was played by James Mason). But audiences were probably less interested in art and cultural history than in the opportunity to see supermodel Elle MacPherson appear undraped; she also gives a fine and charming comic performance, as do Hugh Grant and Tara Fitzgerald. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Flixster Users

33% liked it

6,804 ratings

Critics

73% liked it

30 critics

R, 1 hr. 34 min.

Directed by: John Duigan

Release Date: August 5, 1994

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DVD Release Date: April 3, 2001

Stats: 203 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (203)

  • RossCollinsUK
    February 9, 2011
    RossCollinsUK
    Lots of gratuitous animal and tit shots in Australia.
  • SirPant
    September 28, 2009
    SirPant
    A relatively good comedy of sorts, it?s nothing special but there are some good naughty bits!
  • Deano78
    July 1, 2007
    Deano78
    A strange sort of erotic/period drama. A young conservative couple go on a trip to Austrailia. Where the peope around them and enviroment lead them to be less sexually repressed. Most well known for a nude Elle Macpherson.
  • deano
    January 30, 2007
    deano
    Cool and great moments of 'sexual liberation'. Three naked models, Elle Macpherson, Kate Fischer and Portia De Rossi, are really hot.
  • garyX
    January 1, 2007
    garyX
    Reasonably charming aussie comedy of manners that survives the presence of Hugh Grant with some handsome photography and the fact you get to see Elle Mcpherson in the nip (if that's to your taste...)
  • ileo
    May 30, 2007
    ileo
    Good movie!
  • canadagraphs
    July 5, 2006
    canadagraphs
    Dreadfully bad. Couldnt pay me to sit thru it again.
  • hayguy14
    February 14, 2009
    hayguy14
    I thought this movie was a little weird. I think the only thing that the movie tolerable was well the nude models.
  • riverotter
    August 23, 2008
    riverotter
    I'm not sure why, but for whatever reason, moviemakers have always had a hell of a rough time spinning eroticism into compelling cinema. I suppose part of the problem is that it's hard to translate physical sensations and emotional desire into purely visual language... still, tha... read moret's no excuse for lame movies like 'Sirens', which smugly offer up a load of soft-core porn as a supposedly deep argument in favor of sexual freedom. Don't get me wrong, I'm all in favor of tossing aside the shackles of sexual repression and embracing sensuality - but there's something about a self-satisfied movie like 'Sirens' that strikes me as fundamentally manipulative and dishonest. Sexuality here is treated less like a complex facet of humanity than as a glib, shallow 'up yours' to the forces of repression, represented here by a clueless, romantically immature Hugh Grant... you may ultimately agree with the point the movie is making, but it stacks the deck so thorougly in its own favor that the whole affair earns little more than a shrug and a half-hearted 'yeah... so?'
  • Gedusan
    May 24, 2008
    Gedusan
    Another "Guilty Pleasure" flick...it was an average romantic comedy at best...but...well...it's got Elle McPherson Naked in it ok! nuff said!

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Critic Reviews

Clint Morris
April 19, 2008
Clint Morris, Moviehole

A class act. Great performances.

Rob Gonsalves
March 10, 2007
Rob Gonsalves, eFilmCritic.com

Its eroticism -- good-natured, harmlessly naughty -- arises from character and material. Full Review

Emanuel Levy
February 7, 2007
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

Aussie helmer Duigan seems committed to sensualist cinema: as a follow-up to Wide Sargasso Sea and Flirting, this comedy of morals and manners centers on a repressed preacher (Hugh Grant)and sexually ... Full Review

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
July 18, 2003
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

A congenial film about art and sex. Full Review

Brian Mckay
March 19, 2003
Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com

Dreary and pointless, even with all the supermodel nudity.

Rob Vaux
December 30, 2002
Rob Vaux, Flipside Movie Emporium

It's hard to hate any art house film involving a buck naked Elle MacPherson.

Ken Hanke
October 22, 2002
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

One of the most beautiful movies you're likely to see. Full Review

Owen Gleiberman
September 7, 2011
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Click to read the article Full Review

David Stratton
March 27, 2009
David Stratton, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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Sirens Trivia

  • What actor appeared in all of the following films: Sense and Sensibility, Small Time Crooks and Sirens ???  Answer »
  • Where are the young reverand and his wife from in Sirens ?  Answer »
  • The name of the painting causing so much contraversy in sirens is Crucified Venus ?  Answer »
  • What real life artist was Sirens centered around ?  Answer »
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