SIRENS is a witty, fanciful, and wonderfully upbeat comedy with a
dramatic side as well. It is the story of a painter (Sam Neil) who
paints nudes that enrage the church because some are deemed
blasphemous. A young enlighten Anglican priest (Hugh Grant) is asked
by the Bishop of Sydney (Vincent Ball) to get see if he can get the
artist to send just the non-blasphemous nudes to an upcoming big
exhibit.
The important characters, however, are the 3 nude models (Elle
Macpherson, Portia de Rossi, and Kate Fischer), the painter's wife and,
most of all, the priest's wife (Tara Fitzgerald). The women, I
believe, are all relatively newcomers to the screen. The show starts
off appearing to be about the painter, but ends up being about the
priest's wife breaking out of her shell and coming alive. All of the
performances were delightful. The nude models were played like pixies.
When they smile, joy leaps through your heart.
Many great scenes in the show. The pixies swinging in the
glimmering moonlight was magical. There was a drunk who said an
unprintable 2 word phrase again and again that was very funny. The
scene in church where the priest's wife realized how much she wanted to
be young and free was full of great images.
The cinematography (Geoff Burton) was superb. The night scenes
with the exaggerated back lighting of the moon were lovely. The
direction (John Duigan) was perfect. Duigan directed them so that it
seemed as if these actors and actresses had been working together
forever.
SIRENS runs a well edited (Humphrey Dixon) fast and lighthearted
1:33. It is rated R. If a lot of female and male full frontal nudity
is a problem for you, then skip SIRENS since it is best described as a
very nude ENCHANTED APRIL; otherwise, I recommend this show to you and
give it ***. It is a fine show for teenagers unless they are sensitive
to nudity.
Copyright © 1995 Steve Rhodes
