Good story, Not enough for a whole film

I saw this movie before reading any reviews, and I thought it was very funny. I was very surprised to see the overwhelmingly negative reviews this film received from critics.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Just intense enough to provide a much-needed diversion, just lightweight enough to make you forget about it soon after it’s over. It’s not exactly “good,” per se, but it does what it sets out to do in terms of putting us on edge, which makes it … successful?

Opening with Kathleen Turner's 'China Blue' facing the camera spreadeagled while a man performs cunnilingus on her, Ken Russell's barking mad Crimes of Passion starts as provocatively as it means to go on. A nightmare for the censors (as Russell's films generally were), Crimes of Passion had to undergo heavy cuts even to pass for an R rating upon its original release, when it was met with generally unfavourable reviews. Years later, it's still a somewhat baffling oddity with some terrible dialogue, but its certainly an interesting, one-off experience.Fashion designer Joanna Crane (Turner) is a successful, emotionally cold businesswoman by day, but by night, she is China Blue, the most sought-after and beautiful prostitute to walk the streets. We see her pleasure a variety of men in a variety of ways, and she seems to enjoy her work. Her biggest fan is fanatical street preacher Rev. Peter Shayne (Anthony Perkins), a lunatic who watches her through a hole in the wall and wants to 'save her soul', carrying with him at all times a massive, blade-sharp dildo. Middle-class electrician Bobby Grady (John Laughlin) is married to his childhood sweetheart (Annie Potts) and is bored with her frigid ways. When he is assigned to spy on Joanna by her boss who falsely believes her to be stealing, he discovers her alter-ego and falls for her.Although it explores themes of emotional detachment and sexual discovery, it's difficult to unravel just what Crimes of Passion is truly about. One moment the film will deliver a moment of tenderness between Joanna and Bobby, and suddenly shift the tone and focus onto Perkins' sweaty, nitrate-sniffing deviant. But if anyone can add an artistic bend to such a sleazy subject matter, it is Ken Russell, who manages to find neon-lit beauty in even the grimiest of locations. Turner and Perkins are terrific, while Laughlin fails to find any dimensions within his one-note character but, in his defence, is lumped with some wobbly dialogue. Laughably over-the-top and overlong at 110 minutes, it's a frustrating and sometimes silly experience, but one that I would recommend anybody to watch at least once.

This is the film which demonstrated what a great actress Turner is and why she should still be a bigger star today than perhaps she is. She has such a wonderful voice and figure in this film - it's as if the part was written especially for her; perhaps it was! It also shows you how good Perkins was in a role where he could let himself go as over the top as Russell would like him to. He (Perkins) must have loved it. The musical score is supposedly written by Rick Wakeman, but is, of course, derived from Dvorak's New World Symphony. Wakeman does a great job and the music adds to the gloss of the film. The saxophone playing in the lovemaking scene is sensual in the extreme. Anthony Perkins has several monologues that serve as a narrative for the audience. Not for the wowserish, nor is it pornographic (using clever imagery to allude to what is occurring), it is full of very witty, memorable one-liners.This is easily Kathleen's best film work and really no other American actress has ever shown such intimacy and duality in the sexuality of her character, it is compelling, enthralling and heart breaking. Plus you feel a connection to her because of her vulnerability that she develops as the movie unfolds. Finally her comedic timing is hilarious, yes there are plenty of laugh out scenes in this film too. Perkins is simply brilliant in this role, it seems to be a far cousin of the disturbed mind of Norman Bates, but having grown up in major crimes of the soul and the good manners. Once more, let' s remind the ineffable statement of Nicholas Machiaveli: "The half of the sin is the scandal."Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

What a great slice of sleaze this is! Ken Russell certainly has a style of his own and it's on overdrive in Crimes of Passion, as the movie is as much about the bizarre way that Russell tells his story as it is about the story itself. Crimes of Passion is unlikely to appeal to all tastes, but for everyone who likes trashy and sleazy thrillers, you really can't go wrong with this one! The film is very surreal and at times, even takes on something of a fantasy feel. The way that Russell uses lighting and the rock theme tune (which often feels slightly out of place) help to keep things surreal; and the heavy amount of sex makes this more than your average Hollywood thriller! A double life is the basis for the plot; and here we focus on China Blue; shameless hooker by night and sportswear designer by day. A street preacher meets her and decides he wants to save her soul; around the same time, a man is hired to spy on her by the sportswear business she works for. He later meets her as China Blue and is shown a good time...but soon the preacher starts to get out of control.This might not be particularly intelligent stuff, but Crimes of Passion appealed to me because it's not quite like any other thriller I've seen, and director Ken Russell seems more interested in making the film as bizarre as possible than telling a story - and that is no bad thing as it ensures that Crimes of Passion is original, and that's the sort of thing that gives a film a cult following! Crimes of Passion has an interesting cast, which is lead by Kathleen Turner, who is just great in her double role. John Laughlin falls into the background a little bit as his role is the least interesting of the three central ones - but he's not bad. The third central role is taken up by Anthony Perkins, and it suits him like a glove! Perkins wasn't so maniacal since Psycho and Russell definitely picked the right man for the job with this piece of casting! While the film isn't exactly plot heavy, what story we do have flows well and there's always enough going on outside of the plot anyway - if there's one thing this film isn't, it's boring! Overall, Crimes of Passion is a great trash flick and it gets high recommendations from me!

A few yrs ago, I remember reading an essay by a feminist film theorist who briefly mentioned Rosalind Russell. This theorist wrote that the 'strength' of the 'strong women' that Rozzie R. played lay partly in their ability to stand by their man (even when he wasn't worth it).I thought of this essay after watching 'Crimes of Passion'.Kathleen Turner exudes the same strength and style as Russell in her portrayal of prostitute China Blue. She's the object of affection for two men: the loony priest played by Anthony Perkins, and a bland whitebread boy who's marriage is slowly fading. And she won't let either of them have a piece of her until ...I won't give away the ending - but I will say that this is ultimately Bland Whitebread Boy's fantasy. No matter how hard Ken Russell tries, he can't disguise the fact that this movie is basically a 1940s melodrama for the MTV generation. Except its retrogressive class and gender politics make those old black-and-white films look revolutionary by comparison.