Flirting (1991)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

John Duigan

Writer:

John Duigan (written by)

Release Date:

14 November 1992 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Here's to risks

Plot:

Danny has been sent to boarding school, in this sequal to The Year My Voice Broke. Against a backdrop...

Plot Keywords:

Boarding School | Understanding | Affection | Coming Of Age | Teen

Awards:

3 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Noah Taylor	...	Danny Embling
Thandie Newton	...	Thandiwe Adjewa
Nicole Kidman	...	Nicola
Bartholomew Rose	...	'Gilby' Fryer
Felix Nobis	...	Jock Blair
Josh Picker	...	'Backa' Bourke
Kiri Paramore	...	'Slag' Green
Marc Aden	...	Christopher Laidlaw (as Marc Gray)
Gregg Palmer	...	Colin Proudfoot
Joshua Marshall	...	'Cheddar' Fedderson
David Wieland	...	'Possum' Piper
Craig Black	...	'Pup' Pierdon
Les Hill	...	Greg Gilmore (as Leslie Hill)
Jeff Truman	...	Mr. Morris Cutts
Marshall Napier	...	Mr. Rupert Elloitt

MPAA:

Rated R for scenes of teen sexuality.

Runtime:

99 min | Argentina:110 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:12 | UK:15 (video rating) | Australia:PG | USA:R | Argentina:13 | Canada:A (Ontario)

Filming Locations:

Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Kennedy Miller Productions

Trivia:

Thandie Newton's first film role, co-starring here with Nicole Kidman; she later co-starred with Kidman's ex, Tom Cruise, in Mission: Impossible II (2000).

Quotes:

Nicola Radcliffe: So what did you actually do together?
Thandiwe Adjewa: I beg your pardon?
Nicola Radcliffe: No, it's all right. You don't have to tell me. I think... if I liked somebody enough... I'd want to...
Thandiwe Adjewa: Have you ever?
Nicola Radcliffe: Of course not.
Thandiwe Adjewa: Almost?
Nicola Radcliffe: Well... Do you remember the young guy who was fixing the bell tower? I used to take him a cup of tea each morning before assembly. I rather liked him even though he never said anything much. I used to... close my eyes... and sit on a chair... and let him touch me all over...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Follows The Year My Voice Broke (1987)

Soundtrack:

Johnny Get Angry

Superior coming of age from down under

Don't let the title fool you. Although this is one of the sweetest movies you'll ever see, it is no beach blanket bingo for bimbos. This is an Aussie story of teen love set in 1965, heroic as only teens can play it. It is fun to watch, authentic and original at the same time, a coming of age flick in the English boarding school tradition of "Dead Poet's Society" (1989) and "A Separate Peace" (the novel, not the so-so movie). Noah Taylor stars as Danny Embling, an outsider who reads Sartre and Camus while satirizing the school's empty traditions. Across the lake is the girl's school where Thandiwe Adjewa (Thandie Newton), daughter of the Ugandan ambassador, is learning to meld with the Aussie pale faces, including a gifted pre-Hollywood Nicole Kidman.

Thandie Newton and Noah Taylor, as beautifully directed by John Duigan, are the reasons this film is so good. She has a fearless integrity about her that overcomes the prejudices of her school mates. He is wise and brave at a hundred and twenty pounds. She too is ultra sophisticated. She even met Sartre. This is a story about the love between two outsiders who, with their strength of character win over not only their classmates, but the audience as well. Imagine teenagers as witty and poised as say Eartha Kitt and Gore Vidal, and you get a hint of how it's played.

Nicole Kidman as the snobby Nicola Radcliffe (the name says it all) manages a subtle supporting role with a diamond-in-the-rough kind of charm and just the right touch of on-screen growth. The scene where she shares her stash of vodka (or perhaps a clear fruit liquor) with Thandiwe Adjewa is beautifully turned by Director John Duigan. Also excellent is the hotel scene where the adults are revealed as intrusive in the extreme. I like Danny Embling's line as he deadpans to a re-robing Thandiwe, "They're all funny, aren't they?" Yes, those adults are a little peculiar.

This is not unflawed, however. The ending, despite the rousing music, seemed a bland washout, leaving us with a sense of disappointment. And I thought the first love scene with the two "touching" was a little unreal. I mean he might have kissed her! There's a limit to how great a coming of age, boarding school movie can be, especially when the adults have only scarecrow parts. Nonetheless "Flirting" is a confectioner's delight, and one of the best coming of age movies I've ever seen.