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Sirens
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment // R // May 6, 1998
List Price: $29.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Whenever "Sirens" comes up in any sort of cinematic conversation, the film generally gets called "art-house soft core". It's a little more than that, a picture that tries to be fun and sexy and yet, goes towards some other issues in terms of religion and censorship. Yet, with it's relatively speedy running time, not everything is covered (well, not everyone is covered in the picture, either) as well as it could be.
Hugh Grant stars as Anthony Campion, a young minister who has arrived in Australia in the 1930's with his wife, Estella (Tara Fitzgerald). At the request of British government, the two have stopped at the house of Norman Lindsay (Sam Neill), an artist whose sensual paintings are stirring up controversy. When they arrive, they find that the painter's lifestyle is unlike what they've seen in the past. He lives with three young and gorgeous models (Elle MacPherson, Portia De Rossi, and Kate Fischer) and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of rules to govern their lives. That, and clothing seems to be optional.
I particularly liked Grant's performance in the picture. There's been so many of these characters in the past who are completely against "immoral" activities and stiffly fight their wars, only to be suddenly turned around in the end. Grant's portrayal is light-hearted, not the stereotypical "villian" that these characters always seem to be. Fitzgerald, who later joined Grant again in the amusing "Englishman Who Went Up A Hill, But Came Down A Mountain", is also good at playing a character whose desires are awakened by the lifestyle that Lindsey leads. Fitzgerald is a lovely and talented actress - it's unforutnate that she hasn't been in more. The three models also turn in fine performances, especially MacPherson, who not only looks beautiful, but even has an aura of sexiness and sensuality when clothed and gives a fine overall performance. Also look for a very sweet performance from a young Portia De Rossi ("Ally McBeal").
"Sirens" does attempt to add in some deeper discussions of other topics such as censorship, but with a 94 minute picture, there's really not a whole lot that one can go into. The film works best as simply a cute, light-hearted look at sensuality being awakened, but manages to throw in a few other elements, as well.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Sirens" was one of the earlier Miramax/Buena Vista titles to be released, so, unfortunately, it's in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. Sharpness and detail are generally fair, with some scenes looking rather soft, but on the whole, the picture looks passably well-defined. Contrast looks too high at times, which gave the otherwise gorgeous scenery a rather unnatural look.
Other problems arise during the presentation. Suprisingly, print flaws aren't really that much of a concern during the film, as I expected the 1994 picture to have a little bit of wear around the edges. Yet, I only spotted a couple of minor speckles and nothing more. Some grain appeared during a few scenes early on, but otherwise, the film remained largely clean. The main concern was edge enhancement, which was visible in several scenes. A couple of traces of pixelation also popped up.
Colors sometimes seemed a bit heavy, but overall, they appeared natural and crisp, with no instances of major problems. Flesh-tones occasionally appeared slightly off, but usually looked fine, as well. Overall, a fairly mediocre early edition from the studio.
SOUND: "Sirens" is presented in Dolby 2.0, but essentially, it's mono-ish. There's little in the way of ambient sounds, with the exception of some minimal birds and insects. Rachel Portman's lovely score drifts in and out of the film, with minor presence. Dialogue generally sounds clear, with only a couple of scenes where it sounded slightly muffled.
MENUS:: Very basic non-animated main menu with film-themed images as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:: Nothing.
Final Thoughts: "Sirens" is an amusing little romp with good performances and the occasional spicy sequence. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as if Miramax will ever re-issue this one - if not with better audio quality, at least better video quality and some extras would certainly be desirable. Many might want to check it out as a rental.
Whenever "Sirens" comes up in any sort of cinematic conversation, the film generally gets called "art-house soft core". It's a little more than that, a picture that tries to be fun and sexy and yet, goes towards some other issues in terms of religion and censorship. Yet, with it's relatively speedy running time, not everything is covered (well, not everyone is covered in the picture, either) as well as it could be.
Hugh Grant stars as Anthony Campion, a young minister who has arrived in Australia in the 1930's with his wife, Estella (Tara Fitzgerald). At the request of British government, the two have stopped at the house of Norman Lindsay (Sam Neill), an artist whose sensual paintings are stirring up controversy. When they arrive, they find that the painter's lifestyle is unlike what they've seen in the past. He lives with three young and gorgeous models (Elle MacPherson, Portia De Rossi, and Kate Fischer) and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of rules to govern their lives. That, and clothing seems to be optional.
I particularly liked Grant's performance in the picture. There's been so many of these characters in the past who are completely against "immoral" activities and stiffly fight their wars, only to be suddenly turned around in the end. Grant's portrayal is light-hearted, not the stereotypical "villian" that these characters always seem to be. Fitzgerald, who later joined Grant again in the amusing "Englishman Who Went Up A Hill, But Came Down A Mountain", is also good at playing a character whose desires are awakened by the lifestyle that Lindsey leads. Fitzgerald is a lovely and talented actress - it's unforutnate that she hasn't been in more. The three models also turn in fine performances, especially MacPherson, who not only looks beautiful, but even has an aura of sexiness and sensuality when clothed and gives a fine overall performance. Also look for a very sweet performance from a young Portia De Rossi ("Ally McBeal").
"Sirens" does attempt to add in some deeper discussions of other topics such as censorship, but with a 94 minute picture, there's really not a whole lot that one can go into. The film works best as simply a cute, light-hearted look at sensuality being awakened, but manages to throw in a few other elements, as well.
The DVD
VIDEO: "Sirens" was one of the earlier Miramax/Buena Vista titles to be released, so, unfortunately, it's in non-anamorphic 1.85:1 widescreen. Sharpness and detail are generally fair, with some scenes looking rather soft, but on the whole, the picture looks passably well-defined. Contrast looks too high at times, which gave the otherwise gorgeous scenery a rather unnatural look.
Other problems arise during the presentation. Suprisingly, print flaws aren't really that much of a concern during the film, as I expected the 1994 picture to have a little bit of wear around the edges. Yet, I only spotted a couple of minor speckles and nothing more. Some grain appeared during a few scenes early on, but otherwise, the film remained largely clean. The main concern was edge enhancement, which was visible in several scenes. A couple of traces of pixelation also popped up.
Colors sometimes seemed a bit heavy, but overall, they appeared natural and crisp, with no instances of major problems. Flesh-tones occasionally appeared slightly off, but usually looked fine, as well. Overall, a fairly mediocre early edition from the studio.
SOUND: "Sirens" is presented in Dolby 2.0, but essentially, it's mono-ish. There's little in the way of ambient sounds, with the exception of some minimal birds and insects. Rachel Portman's lovely score drifts in and out of the film, with minor presence. Dialogue generally sounds clear, with only a couple of scenes where it sounded slightly muffled.
MENUS:: Very basic non-animated main menu with film-themed images as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:: Nothing.
Final Thoughts: "Sirens" is an amusing little romp with good performances and the occasional spicy sequence. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as if Miramax will ever re-issue this one - if not with better audio quality, at least better video quality and some extras would certainly be desirable. Many might want to check it out as a rental.
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