Product: Flirting [VHS] (1992)
Rating: 4.0
Rebellious, smart coming of age film
The film is set somewhere in Australia in the mid 1960's. I don't think it was mentioned where, but it was filmed in New South Wales. There is an all boys school and an all girls school separated by a small lake. We've seen this set up plenty of times before thanks to Hollywood's obsession with teenage sexual hijinks. In this case however we get a sophisticated coming of age story involving 2 social outcasts. Noah Taylor is terrific as Danny who is a sometime stutterer but rebellious and very smart. He is smitten by Thandiwe played by an 18 year old Thandie Newton in her first film. Thandiwe is from Uganda but is living at the private school while her dad and step-mom work at a nearby university. Naturally, she's an outcast as she is the only person of color in the school. Racism isn't overplayed in the film but it's still there. The real controversy is the lengths the budding lovers go to see each other. The romance is gentle and exploratory as is their first attempt at sex. Hey, it's been a long time but it seemed very authentic and sweet. The film is directed by John Duigan and is the second of a trilogy. While it certainly stands on its own I'm going to search out the first one "The Day My Voice Broke". Also look out for Naomi Watts as one of Thandiwe's few friends and Nicole Kidman as Nicola, a sympathetic upper classmen.