Age of Consent (1969) Full Movie

Martin T 11 Oct 2009

A slow moving drama/comedy that sees an older artist rediscovering his passion for painting when he meets a hot young 17 yr old played by Helen Mirren, who is willing to pose nude for him to raise extra money to get her off the small island on which she lives. It has a few interesting moments, but overall it's a slow moving affair and doesn't really reveal too much about the characters, just that older men like young nude girls & Mirren is cute in the buff. Rental, if you're a fan of the talent involved.

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Joel A 22 Sep 2011

Director Michael Powell's last film is an interesting take on the older man/younger woman dynamic as James Mason portrays a painter trying to escape to a deserted island in Australian's Great Barrier Reef to find inspiration. Inspiration comes in the form of Helen Mirren, in her first film performance, as a young girl who befriends him and becomes his muse & model. (In what would become a stereotype for her, Mirren is often nude.) Film often threatens to veer into seriousness and danger for the characters but sidesteps it. In the end it's a rather lightweight film with some beautiful location and underwater photography and a wonderful score by composer Peter Sculthorpe (which was thrown out by Columbia Pictures and replaced by one by Stanley Myers.) Restoration of the film rescued the director's original intention for the film and now preserved on DVD.

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Movie M 14 Oct 2017

Reviewed 10.10.17. Michael Powell directed one of my all-time favorite movies, Stairway to Heaven (A Matter of Life and Death). That movie is everything this movie is not. It was original, charming and romantic. Age of Consent is boring, distasteful and skeevy. I get that in 1969 a joke about a man being raped, or a grandpa aged leading man having a teenage love interest, was socially acceptable in some circles. And for entertainment's sake, that could be looked past, if the movie had anything else to offer. But the supporting roles are all horribly overacted caricatures. The plot is paper thin. The only interest is watching Helen Mirren in her first role. But even that wears thin as they apparently thought showing her breasts through a wet shirt in practically every scene was her greatest asset. Glad she proved them wrong over her distinguished career. All this movie proved is even talented directors can misfire, and that people could be particularly gross in 1969. Seems one star is the lowest rating, so let's say a 1/2 star each for the cute dog, and the appealing setting.

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Lanning : 03 Dec 2007

Michael Powell's last directorial endeavor, the resurrection of James Mason's career, and the role that put Helen Mirren on the map. This beautiful little film is a must-see for a stunning Mirren alone, although it is a great comment on the 60s. Thinking about it now, as Powell's last, I see parallels with Shakespeare's The Tempest and even, perhaps, with Faulkner's The Reivers. I say again, flixster friends, this is a true must-see.

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Akavar D 04 Dec 2007

This was the last full length movie directed by Michael Powell. It was many years after the famous Powell & Pressburger partnership created such great movies as "The Red Shoes" & "Black Narcissus". Powell had been branded as box office poison because one of his movies failed to attract viewers. This was a wonderful resurgence and book end for this master director. Placing a 24 year old Helen Mirren with a mature James Mason on an Australian island, Powell explored the evolution of their relationship. Mason's character is a world famous artist who came to the Great Barrier Reef to escape his art and the world. He winds up painting the young Helen Mirren. The beauty of the location accentuates the beauty of the model. Some of the locals decide to insert themselves into this platoinic relationship and help to draw the two even closer emotionally. This movie can be difficult to find, but it is worth the effort. Give yourself a treat.

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