TonyDood
I have seen "Crimes Of Passion" many times over the years but I think I only just came to understand this movie more fully after watching it again recently. It is, as the poster states, a Ken Russell film, and has to be judged that way, as part of the oeuvre of a brilliant, mad genius who seems to have been one of only a few true, classic auteurs in cinema history. "Crimes Of Passion," for all its (many) flaws, for all its trash and sleaze, for good or ill, is, in its final form anyway, a cinematic work of art that defies convention. I think it also invites serious study. Trying to describe the plot of "C of P" is the first clue to the deceptively complex nature of this film. If you viewed the movie circa 1984-1986 you saw the story of a vivacious woman played by Kathleen Turner who works in design by day and goes into drag to turns tricks downtown by night. She's pursued by a deranged priest who seems intent on "saving" her, possibly by using perverted sex to kill her, and an "average Joe" family man who, like Jimmy Stewart before him and Craig Wasson the same year "Crimes" came out, just can't stay away from what turns him on. The Average Joe character, "Bobby," played by relative unknown John Laughlin, is involved in a marriage and family that's fizzling and may possibly be the perfect antidote to what ails our confused working girl...if she can survive mentally and physically, that is. What one took away from the original version of the film was, chiefly, Ms. Turner's brave, fantastic performance (and how uninhibited she was mentally as well as physically), the berserk scenes with Anthony Perkins, the pinks and blues in the set design, the strange surprise ending and the sardonic tone--the plot almost seemed like an afterthought.Like all of Russel's films "C of P" is impossible to understand or completely enjoy after only one viewing (for a more obvious example, try his "Gothic"). When I first saw the film on cable many years ago, like many a teen in the mid-to-late 80s, I was transfixed by the sex, violence, lurid color palette and over-the-top synth score; I was intrigued by the themes of obsession, religion and duality, mystified by the range of acting choices and choice of performers and utterly confused trying to figure out what it was all about.Now here's the thing--that's how it played when the movie first came out. I don't remember the hoopla that surrounded "C of P" but I remember a similar outcry over "Body Double" which was in theaters around the same time. DePalma's film seems like a Disney movie next to Russell's now. Probably "Crimes" played, as it did on cable, so campy and over-wrought it became dark comedy...certainly you couldn't take the scenes with Ms. Turner and Perkins too seriously; as one reviewer suggested, those moments play out like bizarre numbers in an MGM musical film or something. But apparently it was too much for the censors and the film was rumored to have been "heavily cut," something mid-80s film-goers weren't very savvy about. In fact, along with Spielberg's "Close Encounters" this may have been one of the first films to cause a buzz for being re-edited and re-released later. At any rate, "C of P" did pretty well on cable and video so the men with the money decided to release an unrated VHS version of the film promising the enticement of things that were too "hot" for the original release. Again, this was back before this was a common practice; what, we wondered, could be more "naughty" than the extended and very sensual sex scene in the original cut, the montages of a naked woman and a bloody blow up sex doll, the blasphemy and explicit language and the lingering presence of a lethal vibrating sex toy? The "unrated version" ploy worked like a charm; the movie sold like hotcakes and the practice of releasing a re-edited version of a film with footage you "haven't seen" is still common today (is anyone really that interested in a Director's Cut of "Girls Trip?"). Most of us were probably a bit surprised to find the extended cut scenes of "Crimes" consisted mainly of a raw, nasty bit of over-kill business involving Kathleen Turner in a leather S+M outfit abusing a corrupt cop with his own night stick, but to bear witness to the scene was to admit that, yeah, it was a bit further than R-rated movies went at the time...and also probably wasn't all that necessary to the plot. The inclusion of this scene and some inserts of classic, erotic (and explicit) artwork changed the tone of the movie somehow, at least for me--the inclusion of this new material made it more a film about a woman who goes through a kind of sexual hell but is saved by a dopey guy as she runs from a crazy priest. The film seemed trashier (if possible) and less redemptive somehow after watching how far "Joanna Crane" (and Ken Russell, in fact) could descend into violent, sexual excess with such seeming nonchalance. Flash forward to the 90s and we got "C of P" on laser disc. Two things happened with this release that changed the film's tone further: deleted scenes and audio commentary of Ken Russell being interviewed by Barry Sandler, the screenwriter of the film. Of the commentary I remember little other than Mr. Russell going on about the loveliness of Ms. Turner in her China Blue drag and leaving before the film was over, which was cute, and Mr. Sandler coming off as an articulate, intelligent and kind person. I had met Mr. Russell in person around the same time and found him to be lively, personable and sweet. We also learned that Anthony Perkins' character was not originally a fallen priest, which would have made a profound difference in how the character was perceived.All this would have changed my opinion about about the tone and nature of the film, but the deleted scenes added another level of explanation to the project somehow. The film already has a number of melodramatic, wooden-acted moments, some that seem straight out of a sad, low-budget TV movie; the deleted scenes presented on the laser disc, including a couples' backyard BBQ and a confrontation between a wife and the woman her husband is seeing behind her back seemed like something you'd find on theLifetime channel. In fact, these scenes just don't fit at all, at least if you see the film as the Ken Russell phantasmagoria it appeared to be in the original edit. So what gives?Finally, a DVD of the film was released that included not only more deleted scenes but footage that had never been in the film before in any earlier cuts, now included in the film. None of the new scenes extended the outrageousness of the movie (with the exception of an exceptionally ugly and graphic bit of actual porn footage on a TV monitor), quite the opposite. Taken as a body, if you include all the deleted scenes available (which were surely in the green-lit script?) it would seem that originally the story of the film might have been meant to be played straight, and that the plot was about an average Joe in a crumbling marriage who gets involved with a woman who tricks at night and is pursued by a crazy person. The "China Blue" scenes that once seemed the raison d'etre of the project comprise a much smaller part of the big picture when viewed in this light...it's unlikely (but I have no confirmation) that Mr. Sandler envisioned the garishly-colored, over-sexed diatribe on American sexual mores that Mr. Russell crafted out of the script he had to work with (and Russell had done something similar with Chayefsky's "Altered States" just years before). Certainly it's hard to believe anyone but Ms. Turner, directed by Mr. Russell, could have gotten away with the (deliciously) ridiculous action in the "China Blue" scenes. Imagine, for example, someone like "Basic Instinct"-era Sharon Stone playing the part--it just wouldn't work, or be as fun.And the movie IS fun, or should be, at least the original version we saw was, despite some unfortunate and, in my opinion, unnecessary misogyny (no film, EVER, should have the line, "strip...b!tch!" in it). The film as it plays now, which may be closer to the intent of the work I suspect Mr. Sandler originally concocted, which exists only when you look at all the deleted scenes and the most recent edit, is still good stuff. It's more realistic, there's a lot more compassion; John Laughlin's trajectory makes more sense, we find that Annie Potts' best work, and many keys to the "point" of the movie, were left on the cutting room floor to make room for more sex-with-nuns-and-dildos Russell-stuff (but that's not really a complaint). But the original conception of the film may have been a different, less outrageous movie. It seems possible that by editing the film into the shorter cut we saw in the mid-80s we were gifted with another berserk Russellian moving painting whereas if someone else had directed the movie we might have instead gotten an interesting but less-than-noteworthy melodrama.Again, the film is flawed in any form--even in the first edit it seemed that (much like this review) it was a bit too long, it's unfocused and varies greatly in tone from scene to scene in any form, much like "Rocky Horror" it suffers from not having a clear protagonist (though again, the most recent edit makes Laughin the winner there with Turner relegated to supporting character), it hasn't aged well visually or thematically and the music, fun as it is, never actually worked (whether the use of Dvorak makes a "statement" or not I'll leave to others to discuss). But the power of the film can't be ignored--the visuals, the editing, the music, Ms. Turner and Mr. Perkins' performances, the themes and the unflinching discussion of sexual topics many people even today would run screaming from--all of these things combine to create a piece of film art that shouldn't be left out when discussing the works of Ken Russell specifically and the place of art films in film history in general.
ladymidath
Ken Russell+ music score by Rick Wakeman=brilliant film. Throw in the talents of Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins, John Laughlin and Annie Potts and you have a winner.A fashion designer by day and a prostitute by night, Joanna Crane, who goes by the name of China Blue when she is turning tricks, is suspected of stealing designs is being followed by an unhappily married Bobby Grady.China Blue aka Joanna is also being stalked by a street preacher, the Reverend Peter Shayne who develops an unhealthy obsession with being able to 'save' her.As a relationship starts to bud between Bobby and Joanna, Peter Shayne becomes more and more frenzied in his attempts to convert Joanna.Crimes Of Passion is a striking movie. The music which is perfect, adds to the sexually charged atmosphere as does the setting and lighting.A thriller that does not fear to cross any boundary and is still able to include genuinely touching scenes, such as one where China Blue is hired to have sex with a man who is terminally ill.The scenes between Bobby and his wife Amy are also tinged with sadness as you can see how very unhappy they both are together.Despite the fine performances from the cast, this is definitely Anthony Perkin's movie. His portrayal of Peter Shayne is both comical and terrifying as the menacing and deranged preacher who is desperate to find salvation in saving China Blue, no matter what the cost.Kathleen Turner also puts in a great performance as the tormented woman who leads two lives. My only gripe with Crimes Of Passion is that Joanna's backstory was never really explored. But that would be a gripping film within itself.Ken Russell's film really explores the darker side of sexual attraction and obsession.It does end on a lighter note though which gives the film a more optimistic feel that gives the film a bit of a lift.Crimes Of Passion is not for everyone, some of the scenes are explicit, but it is worth checking out.
gavin6942
A sportswear designer leads a double life as a hooker named China Blue (Kathleen Turner). One of her clients, a man on the verge of divorce, decides he loves her and figures out who she is. He then begins wooing her, which she fights against since he was a client. Meanwhile a street preacher (Anthony Perkins) works the red light district trying to save souls.Allegedly, the male lead passed over Patrick Swayze and Jeff Bridges before landing on John Laughlin. Not that Laughlin does a bad job, but in retrospect this seems like an odd choice -- the movie would have had a more lasting impact with one of the other two.Although Kathleen Turner takes up most of the screen time, and really puts herself out there in these sexual situations, Perkins is the highlight of the film. He never shies away from pushing his own emotions, saying and acting in the most manic of manners. For an actor who made his name working with Hitchcock, he was never afraid to push the envelope in his career. Allegedly, the "poppers" we see him using on screen were real and he was indeed pumped up for much of the shoot.One aspect of the film that Ken Russell ought to be praised for is how strongly he suggests certain things but never shows them. For a film about American sexuality, there is surprisingly little nudity. Instead, he uses Japanese art to double for this, and presents an endless stream of suggestive -- but rarely explicit -- scenes. This is brilliant, and keeps the movie from becoming smut, despite its themes. Likewise, the violence is almost all psychological -- even a murder scene somewhat humorously uses a doll to avoid showing direct, human physical interaction. Russell and cinematographer Dick Bush do an excellent job of projecting character on to the actors through lighting. We have garish colors and neon lights for the scenes with China Blue, while the other scenes were more naturalistic light. There are clearly two worlds at play, and Kathleen Turner seamlessly goes from one to the other.On top of a beautiful 2K restoration, and the ability to watch either the cut or uncut version, the Arrow Video blu-ray comes packed with features. We have audio commentary with director Ken Russell and producer-screenwriter Barry Sandler, seven deleted/extended scenes with optional commentary by Sandler, a brand-new interview with Sandler, and a brand-new interview with composer Rick Wakeman. This is a must-own for any fan of Russell, Turner or especially Perkins.
