''Passion'', known in some releases as ''Passion: The Story of Percy Grainger'', is a 1999 Australian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...

about some episodes in the life of the pianist and composer

Percy Grainger Percy Aldridge Grainger (born George Percy Grainger; 8 July 188220 February 1961) was an Australian-born composer, arranger and pianist who lived in the United States from 1914 and became an American citizen in 1918. In the course of a long an ...

. It stars Richard Roxburgh as Grainger.

Plot

''Passion'' concentrates on Grainger's unusual relationship with his mother and his sexual interests (especially his obsessive self-

flagellation Flagellation (Latin , 'whip'), flogging or whipping is the act of beating the human body with special implements such as whips, rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails, the sjambok, the knout, etc. Typically, flogging has been imposed on ...

, though

homosexuality Homosexuality is Romance (love), romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romant ...

is also hinted at), which affect his relationship with a woman who comes to love him. It is set mainly in London in 1914, when Grainger's mother Rose was ill (she later jumped to her death in New York, following ill-founded rumours of

incest Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity ( marriage or stepfamily), ado ...

with her son).

Cast

* Richard Roxburgh as

* Barbara Hershey as Rose Grainger * Bille Brown as John Grainger *

Emily Woof Emily Woof is an English actress and author, best known for film and TV roles including Nancy in ''Oliver Twist'', ''The Full Monty'', an ITV adaptation of ''The Woodlanders'', ''Velvet Goldmine'', ''Wondrous Oblivion'', '' Silent Cry'' and '' ...

as Karen Holten *

Claudia Karvan Claudia Karvan (born 19 May 1972) is an Australian actress, producer and scriptwriter. As a child actor, she first appeared in the film, '' Molly'' (1983) and followed with an adolescent role in ''High Tide'' (1987). She portrayed a teacher in ...

as Alfhild de Luce * Simon Burke as Hermann Sandby *

Linda Cropper Linda Cropper (born 1 January 1958) is an Australian actress, primarily known for her role as Geraldine Proudman in the TV series ''Offspring'' and as Dame Nellie Melba in the television series '' Melba''. An shortened edited version of the tel ...

as Lilith Lowery *

Julia Blake Julia Blake (born 1936) is an English–born Australian actress. She is known for her small screen role as Nancy McCormack on the Australian drama series '' Prisoner'' (''Prisoner: Cell Block H''), for which she appeared during the final season ...

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 January 1901 to 6 May 1910 as the wife of ...

Roy Billing Roy Harwood Billing (born 1947) is a New Zealand television actor, now based on Waiheke Island, New Zealand. He was brought up in Ruawai, Northland, New Zealand. Billing spent almost three decades living and working in Australia. He became w ...

as John Perring Jr *

Genevieve Mooy Genevieve Mooy is an Australian actress. She has had a career on both stage and screen. She has appeared in stage productions such as ''Coral Browne - This F***ing Lady'' and ''The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race'' She was a regular on the first ...

as Ada Crossley *

Peter Whitford Peter Whitford (born 1939) is an Australian former radio, theatre, television and film character actor known for numerous roles particularly as wealthy businessmen and members of the aristocracy. Peter Whitford was born in Adelaide, South Austr ...

as Tour Manager

Production

The film was shot on location in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

and

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

and

Michelago Michelago is a village in the Monaro region of New South Wales, Australia. The village is in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council local government area, south of Canberra on the Monaro Highway. It was founded in the 1820s, on the main route from ...

in Australia.

Awards and nominations

''Passion'' won the 1999 Award of Distinction from the Australian Cinematographers Society for Martin McGrath's cinematography. McGrath also won the Best Achievement in Cinematography award at the 1999

Australian Film Institute Awards The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards, known as the AACTA Awards, are presented annually by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA). The awards recognise excellence in the film and television industr ...

. AFI Awards also went to Terry Ryan for Best Achievement in Costume Design, and Murray Picknett for Best Achievement in Production Design. AFI nominations went to Richard Roxburgh for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role,

and

for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role, and Andrew Plain, Phil Judd, Guntis Sics, Anne Breslin, Jane Paterson for Best Achievement in Sound. Claudia Karvan was nominated for the 2000

Film Critics Circle of Australia The Film Critics Circle of Australia (FCCA) is an association of cinema critics and reviewers. It includes journalists in "media, television, major national and state papers, radio, national and state, online and freelance writers, Australian ...

Awards for Best Supporting Actor – Female. Director Peter Duncan was nominated for the Golden St. George at the 21st Moscow International Film Festival.

References

External links