Flirt (1995)

Director:

Hal Hartley

Writer:

Hal Hartley (writer)

Release Date:

7 August 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

New York, Berlin, Tokyo

Plot:

The same situation is played out in different cities (New York, Berlin and Japan). A lover has to choose...

Plot Keywords:

Female Nudity | Gay Interest | Repeated Event | Anthology | Breaking The Fourth Wall

Cast

Paul Austin	...	Men's Room Man #
Robert John Burke	...	Men's Room Man # (as Robert Burke)
Martin Donovan	...	Walter
Erica Gimpel	...	Nurse (as Erica Gimple)
Michael Imperioli	...	Michael
Holt McCallany	...	Bartender
Lianna Pai	...	Woman at Phone Booth
Harold Perrineau	...	Men's Room Man # (as Harold Perrineau Jr.)
Parker Posey	...	Emily
Bill Sage	...	Bill
Patricia Scanlon	...	Woman at Bar
Paul Schulze
Karen Sillas	...	Doctor Clint (as Karen Silos)
Hannah Sullivan	...	Trish
José Zúñiga	...	Cab Driver (as Jose Zuniga)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and nudity.

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA | Germany | Japan

Language:

English | Japanese | German

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | Portugal:M/16 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Berlin, Germany

Company:

Neue Deutsche Filmgesellschaft (NDF)

Quotes:

Bill: [indicates gun] What are you gonna do with that?
Walter: I'm gonna shoot myself.
Bill: [unloading gun] That's pretty stupid, Walter.
Walter: Yeah, I guess I oughta shoot Margaret, huh?
[Bill pockets the bullets and lays the gun back down.]
Bill: [pours a drink] No, you're not gonna shoot anybody.
Walter: Maybe I oughta shoot you.

Movie Connections:

Version of Flirt (1993)

It NEVER happens once!

This is a film about the human behaviour, more or less. Like Jim Jarmousch did on "A Night On Earth", Hal Hartley attempts to reach the depths of a human soul, in a cosmically way, I think. We are more or less the same even if we don't admit it. A specific action can bring equal reaction from almost all of us. That is the point of the film. FLIRT focuses as the title says in flirting. This doesn't necessarily mean that it couldn't be otherwise, on the contrary. Hartley has his own way of processing images (and what a way!). After all he was a cinematographer, he should know. Poetic close-ups, characters more lovable not for what they say or do but for what they might say or do. This particular film studies the same situation in three different corners of the world. The places are not important. This could have happened anywhere and it did. Especially in the last place "Tokyo" the sequences are absolutely marvellous. I will not try to criticize the script as a script. There are people who get paid to do that sort of things. This is not a film to be seen by people with "conventional" eyes. This is not a conventional film. Far from it. Anyone who knows of Hal Hartley's work knows exactly what I mean. A 10 out of 10 for this brilliant film by Hartley, and remember best things in life are the ones we can't quite explain them.