Passion concentrates on Grainger's unusual relationship with his mother and his sexual peculiarities (especially his obsessive self-flagellation, though homosexuality 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 would later jump to her death in New York, upset by ill-founded rumours of incest with her son).
Acting
Barbara Hershey's suffocating maternal intensity.
Direction
Duncan's unflinching gaze at private torment.
Director
Peter Duncan
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The real Percy Grainger collected over 10,000 whips and kept detailed diaries of his self-flagellation sessions—this film barely scratches the surface.
AU
