Notorious in its day because it was made with funds from the Australian taxpayer and the film tried to pretend it wasn't set in Australia - there are references to the US political system rather than the Australian one, plenty of mid Atlantic accents and foreign actors, people drive on the other side of the road, accents are dubbed into Americans.
I personally feel the film could have hit all the story points it wanted, still had imported stars, and be set in Australia. I found the dubbed American accents really annoying - from the bit players mainly... Especially when you have cast like David Hemmings and Paula Duncan capable of mid-Pacific accents. But never mind...
Years on the film comes across as a very flawed piece. There's an imaginative central concept (a modern day updating of the Rasputin story), some interesting characters, beautiful photography, good actors. I would've loved to have read Everett de Roche's original script, with the lead as a priest, and set in Australia, with Harlequin having a strong sexual drive. (I'm surprised there wasn't more sex in the film... isn't that an exploitative element?)
Robert Powell is perfect in the title role. I enjoyed Paula Duncan. David Hemmings was more "iffy"... though it didn't help that his character was so sketchy. Broderick Crawford does his Broderick Crawford thing... again I just wish he's character didn't feel so "cut about".
Alyson Best pops up to provide some brief nudity, in a role that again feels cut about. TV icon Bevan Lee pops up in a support role. Alan Cassell's American accent (dubbed) is annoying.
Still, it's probably one of the best movies Tony Ginnane ever made.
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