IMDb RATING
6.4/10
8.6K
YOUR RATING
A mysterious woman, fashion designer by day and prostitute by night, is hounded by two men: a married father of two children and a sexually repressed preacher.A mysterious woman, fashion designer by day and prostitute by night, is hounded by two men: a married father of two children and a sexually repressed preacher.A mysterious woman, fashion designer by day and prostitute by night, is hounded by two men: a married father of two children and a sexually repressed preacher.
- Awards
- 3 wins & 1 nomination
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAccording to Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins would sniff a form of nitrate before each take.
- Quotes
Rev. Shayne: Save your soul, whore!
China: Save your money, shithead!
- Alternate versionsFilm was heavily cut in the US to avoid an X-rating. The European version, available as an unrated video in the USA, features additional sex scenes.
Featured review
Artful Depravity
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.
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.
helpful•71
- gavin6942
- Jul 8, 2016
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- China Blue bei Tag und Nacht
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $2,912,945
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $1,103,210
- Oct 21, 1984
- Gross worldwide
- $2,912,945
- Runtime1 hour 47 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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