Verführung der Sirenen (1994)

Verführung der Sirenen: Directed by John Duigan. With Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Sam Neill, Elle Macpherson. When a painting is termed blasphemous, a young minister and his wife visit the artist… and the three sexually playful models living with him.

“While this film is often not taken seriously because of its explicit nudity, it is in fact one of the most thought-provoking commentaries on religious values I have ever seen on the screen. This film provides us with the stark contrast of the repressed preacher from London and the artistu0026#39;s three models in rural Australia, a throwback to Shakespeareu0026#39;s u0026quot;Green World.u0026quot; The fulcrum of this contrast is the preacheru0026#39;s wife, being pulled in both the oppressive, u0026quot;moralu0026quot; direction by her upbringing and her husband and the free and expressive direction of the artist. The breathtaking cinematography and stunning visual symbolism of this film contribute to make it into a powerful attack on the Christian moral code that dominates western thinking. I have been scoffed at on more than one occasion for praising Sirens, but I left the theater questioning my own views about what is and is not moral. The fact that this filmu0026#39;s sexual content seems to invalidate it as art in many peopleu0026#39;s eyes merely underscores the value of its message. Along with Sling Blade, Sirens to me stands as the most provocative film about morality made in the 1990u0026#39;s. A solid 8 on a scale of 1 to 10.”