Crimes of Passion is a highly engaging and dramatic cinematic journey that tests the boundaries of love, obsession, and human determination. The film, helmed by the acclaimed director Ken Russell and written by Barry Sandler, first hit the big screens in 1984. Set amidst the hustle and bustle of contemporary Los Angeles, the movie artfully toes the line between a film noir, psychological thriller and an intense romantic drama.

At the center of Crimes of Passion is the magnetic fashion designer Joanna Crane, (played by the renowned actress Kathleen Turner in a performance hailed as groundbreaking for its time), who leads a cryptic double life. By day, she presents the image of the quintessential businesswoman - strong, independent, and successful. Yet under the cloak of night, she becomes China Blue, a tantalizing prostitute who is as enticing as she is mysterious. This intriguing dual-life premise forms the bedrock on which the rest of the story unfolds, stringing viewers along an intense suspense route that is peppered with layered metaphors and symbolic foreshadowing.

The film introduces two important figures who, in many ways, function as forces compelling Joanna to confront the fractured nature of her existence and the cost it inflicts on her mental and emotional well-being. The first is Bobby Grady, a surveillance expert played by the acclaimed actor John Laughlin. He is hired to tail and report on Joanna under the suspicion of corporate espionage. However, he finds himself drawn irresistibly and dangerously towards Joanna's entangled world. As the line between his professional duties and personal desires gets blurred, Bobby stands on the precipice of moral dilemma and uncertainty.

The second character is Reverend Peter Shayne, a deranged street preacher enacted by the charismatic Anthony Perkins. Shayne realizes Joanna's dangerous double life and presents himself as her supposed savior, albeit through means ebbed in his distorted understanding of morality and religion. With these two characters, the film effectively probes the dark recesses of obsession, where love and property become indefinable.

Crimes of Passion is an amalgam of striking cinematography and dramatic score that enhances the visual portrayals of psychological distress and sensuality. The setting is not just a backdrop, but a vibrant canvas that heightens the narrative’s impact by situating action in vividly-depicted nightclubs, raucous city streets and the stark contrast of Joanna's corporate life. The cinematography of Dick Bush enhances the film's quality and serves to contour the narrative elements with a stylistic flourish that is both thrilling and engrossing.

Moreover, music, sound, and silence are inventively used throughout the film. Rick Wakeman's music reverberates throughout the narrative, characterizing important scenes with haunting synths, while also affording characters emotional depth. Silence, alternatively, is used to evoke unspoken emotions and heighten the tension in certain scenes, fostering a powerful palpability that is impossible to ignore.

While Crimes of Passion does contain adult themes and graphic scenes, it is these elements that underscore the turmoil and dark desires of its characters. However, the film never falls into gratuitousness - each scene works to bolster the plot, character development or sets the stage for a subsequent event. It's a true embodiment of sensual cinema; aesthetically gripping whilst delving into erotic scenarios combined with dark psychological subtleties.

Critically, the film is both celebrated and provocative. It lies within Ken Russell’s ethos of excessive, explosive cinema that pushes boundaries, always aiming to shock, stimulate and leave a lasting impression. It exhibits not only a brave experiment in the narrative technique but also the risk-taking performances from its leading cast members. For audiences who appreciate their cinema blended with thought-provoking narratives, challenging character arcs, and a healthy dose of audaciousness, Crimes of Passion continues to be an exciting reel of celluloid.

In conclusion, Crimes of Passion, distinctly, wraps an intricate narrative around its characters, constantly challenging their stability and tottering them on the thin line separating acceptability from taboo. It's a compelling piece that hives off conventional filmmaking, immersing its viewers into a riveting realm of suspense, subversion, and psychological complexity. It embodies the essence of 1980s cinematic excess but under a director who doesn't shy away from exploring the depth of his character's psyches, yielding a film that continues to command a magnetic allure, worthy of discussion and dissection.