| Flirting | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | John Duigan |
| Written by | John Duigan |
| Produced by | Terry Hayes George Miller Doug Mitchell Barbara Gibbs |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Geoff Burton |
| Edited by | Robert Gibson |
| Music by | James D'Arcy |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. (throughRoadshow Distributors) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $4 million |
Flirting is a 1991 Australiancoming-of-agecomedy drama film written and directed byJohn Duigan. The story revolves around aromance between twoteenagers, and it starsNoah Taylor, who appears again as Danny Embling, the protagonist of Duigan's 1987 filmThe Year My Voice Broke. It also starsThandiwe Newton andNicole Kidman.
Flirting is the second in an incompletetrilogy of autobiographical films by Duigan. It was produced byTerry Hayes,Doug Mitchell, Barbara Gibbs, andGeorge Miller, and made byKennedy Miller Studios, which also made theMad Max Trilogy. The film won the 1990Australian Film Institute Award for Best Film, asThe Year My Voice Broke had in 1987.
Danny, an awkward, underdeveloped 17-year-old, has been sent away by his parents to the all-male St. Albansboarding school in ruralNew South Wales, Australia, in the hopes he won’t become a delinquent. The year is 1965 and it has been some time since Danny has had a romantic relationship with a girl. Danny is the butt of jokes because of his stutter and long nose (for which he is nicknamed "Bird"). His only friend is Gilbert.
At a school rugby game, he meets and slowly becomes interested in Thandiwe, the daughter of aUgandan father andKenyan-British mother, who attends the all-girls Cirencester Ladies’ College across the lake, while her father, a political activist, is lecturing at university inCanberra. They later meet at a debate between the two schools, and covertly during a school dance. She is punished for leaving the dance without permission and is given chores by the prefect, Nicola. Thandiwe is later befriended by Melissa and Janet.
Throughout the course of the school year, they foster a budding romance, despite the overbearing regulations inflicted upon them — specificallyracial politics andsocial conventions (Thandiwe is often regarded by the school authorities as rebellious and overtly sexual). After the musical performance, Danny introduces his parents to Thandiwe and her parents. They later decide to return to Uganda in response to the political turmoil there. Soon Thandiwe decides to return too, and lies about her true departure date, in order to spend the night in a motel with Danny. They are discovered, leading to his expulsion. Thandiwe writes to him regularly from Uganda, but then the letters stop coming. One day a letter arrives fromNairobi saying she is finally safe there.
The script was written beforeThe Year My Voice Broke.[2] Although the story evokes universal themes of romance and love, some say that it also examines the properties of the "Australian character":existential isolation and strong cultural ties to Great Britain. It was filmed on location inSydney,Bathurst, andBraidwood,New South Wales, including scenes atSt Stanislaus College in Bathurst.
Flirting features one of the last appearances by Nicole Kidman in an Australian-produced film before she made her transition toHollywood (though she would return in later years to act in movies for directorBaz Luhrmann); Kidman had previously worked with director Duigan on the Australian miniseriesVietnam. Actress Thandiwe Newton later said that starting at her audition, when she was 16, Duigan groomed and sexually abused her.[3]
The song "With a Girl Like You" is actually out of the period, not being released until August 1966.
Flirting grossed $1,655,044 at the box office in Australia[4] and $2,415,396 in the US.[5] and was widely critically acclaimed. It featured onRoger Ebert's Top 10 Best Films List of 1992. Later it was ranked number 46 onEntertainment Weekly's list of the 50 Best High School Movies.[6]Vincent Canby ofThe New York Times commented:
In his review forThe Washington Post,Desson Thomson commented:
The film received the following 1990AFI Awards:[9]
It was also nominated for:[10]
As part of a years-long project to document his life, editor Robert Gibson took a rolling hand-held camera on stage as he accepted his Best Achievement in Editing Award forFlirting at the AFIs. The resulting footage is included in his later filmVideo Fool for Love, which focuses mostly on his intimate personal life.