Circle of Two (1980)

Director:

Jules Dassin

Writers:

Marie-Terese Baird (novel)
Thomas Hedley Jr. (writer)

Release Date:

November 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Their lives would always be entwined...

Plot:

The story of the impossible love between a schoolgirl and a 60-years old painter. |

Plot Keywords:

Painter | Teenager Nudity | May December Romance | Nudity | Female Nudity

Cast

Tatum O'Neal	...	Sarah Norton
Norma Dell'Agnese	...	Ruspoli
Donann Cavin	...	Smitty
Elan Ross Gibson	...	Gym Teacher
Maggie Morris	...	Music Teacher
Richard Burton	...	Ashley St. Clair
Larry Ewashen	...	Men at the Cinema
Robin Gammell	...	Mr. Norton
Patricia Collins	...	Mrs. Norton
Michael Wincott	...	Paul
Daisy White	...	School Secretary
George Bourne Sr.	...	Old Man
Bibi Caspari	...	Mime
Gordon Jocelyn	...	Antiquary
Brendan McKane	...	Man at the Terrace

Also Known As:

Les ages du coeur (Canada: French title)
Obsession

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:K-12 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda

Company:

Film Consortium of Canada

Trivia:

Tatum O'Neal had to keep her legs covered throughout the entire movie, including during her topless scene. This is because she had been involved in a terrible car accident shortly before filming, and her legs had suffered second and third-degree burns from skidding on the pavement.

Quotes:

Sarah Norton: Have you thought about going to bed with me?
Ashley St. Clair: Yes.
Sarah Norton: [walks over to the bed] Let's.
Ashley St. Clair: Obviously, no.
Sarah Norton: Why? Is it because you think I'm a virgin? Because if you think I am...
Ashley St. Clair: You are.
Sarah Norton: I am.

Movie Connections:

References Gone with the Wind (1939)

Soundtrack:

Circle of Two

Fairly tame treatment of a potentially controversial story theme.

When I read the back of the video sleeve and realised what Circle Of Two was actually about, I was left rather worried regarding what I was about to watch. A 60 year-old artist falling in love with a 15 year-old girl? The very thought of it made me a bit queasy, a bit nervous. But I couldn't believe for one minute that a dignified actor like Richard Burton would be caught in a film passionately romping around in bed with a teenaged girl. Nor could I believe that a promising young starlet like Tatum O'Neal would stoop to such scenes. Once I got round to watching the film nothing about it was as exploitative, tasteless or controversial as I'd initially feared. It wasn't particularly good either. Just a quiet, forgettable love story about ill-suited lovers.... absorbing enough to sit through but not provocative enough to stick in the memory for long afterwards.

Sarah Norton (Tatum O'Neal) is a bright kid from an affluent family. She occasionally skips school and does "daring" things like sneaking into porn movie screenings at the local adult-movie theatre. She meets a local artist, Ashley St. Clair (Richard Burton), who was once a renowned painter but hasn't painted a stroke in ten years after the critics were unjustly savage towards his work. Somehow, an unlikely affection develops between them which soon blossoms into full-scale love. But Sarah's parents disapprove and take vehement measures to drive a wedge between the mismatched lovers.

The nearest the film comes to over-stepping the mark is a scene in which a naked O'Neal offers herself to Burton in his art studio, upon which he angrily orders her to get dressed. Luckily, Jules Dassin makes the scene quite sensitive and tasteful, directing it as a moment of character development rather than an opportunity for titillation. Throughout the remainder of the film, the controversial issues and themes are dealt with relatively tamely. Burton is pretty good as the artist whose age and experience warn him that to fall in love with the girl - and let her love him in return - is bound to end unhappily. It was probably a hard role to play, but he is honest and convincing in each scene. O'Neal as the teenaged love interest is OK, if a bit wooden with some of her delivery. Michael Wincott (later a scene stealer as Guy of Gisbourne in Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves) has a small but significant role as O'Neal's outrageously jealous ex-boyfriend. Circle Of Two is a fair story of forbidden passion and unworkable love. It works its way through a series of sad and poignant events to an inevitably forlorn conclusion, weaving a story that is interesting without ever being irresistible. It ain't a classic, but it's not too bad.