A grizzled Australian painter decides to jolt his stale creativity by moving to a remote island on the Great Barrier Reef, where he takes on an alluring, uninhibited young woman as his muse.A grizzled Australian painter decides to jolt his stale creativity by moving to a remote island on the Great Barrier Reef, where he takes on an alluring, uninhibited young woman as his muse.A grizzled Australian painter decides to jolt his stale creativity by moving to a remote island on the Great Barrier Reef, where he takes on an alluring, uninhibited young woman as his muse.
Neva Carr-Glynn
- Ma Ryan
- (as Neva Carr-Glyn)
Slim DeGrey
- Cooley
- (as Slim De Grey)
Hudson Faucett
- New Yorker
- (as Hudson Faussett)
Tommy Hanlon Jr.
- Levi-Strauss
- (as Tommy Hanlon Jnr.)
Clarissa Kaye-Mason
- Brisbane Bird · Meg
- (as Clarissa Kaye)
Judith McGrath
- Brisbane Bird · Grace
- (as Judy McGrath)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaFirst major leading role in a theatrical movie for Dame Helen Mirren (Cora).
- GoofsWhen Mirren's character strips off her frock beside the boat and dives nude, she is wearing only a pair of swim fins. However, when she gets to the bottom, she is wearing a dive mask and snorkel.
- Crazy creditsLonsdale ... Godfrey the dog
- Alternate versionsA studio version was made with a soundtrack by Stanley Myers. The original soundtrack by Peter Sculthorpe has now been restored. The Sculthorpe soundtrack was the director's choice.
- ConnectionsFeatured in The Late Show: Michael Powell (1992)
- SoundtracksDaydream Believer
(uncredited)
Written by John Stewart
Performed by The Monkees
(from Ted Farrel's transistor radio)
Featured review
I caught this rather odd but interesting movie at 1 AM on TCM one night (I guess insomnia isn't always a bad thing). James Mason stars as famous, very jaded middle-aged painter who decides to get away from the frustrations of his public life by relocating to a rural Australian island. Unfortunately, once there he finds more frustrations with his eccentric and annoying neighbors, and bothersome former associates who show up unexpectedly. He also meets a young girl (Helen Mirren) who, uh, "re-inspires" him by agreeing to pose for him in the nude.
The tone of this movie is kind of strange, going from light-hearted comedy to sudden tragedy and back again. It was directed Michael Powell, after this once- respected director had pretty much torpedoed his own career with the movie "Peeping Tom", which was considered unforgivably sleazy in its era in Britain, but is regarded as somewhat of classic today. Mason (who also co-produced) plays a role similar to the one he played in Stanley Kubrick's notorious film version of "Lolita". He walks the same fine line between an erudite artist trying shake off the shackles of bourgeois morality and a mere pervert lusting after some nubile flesh. Nevertheless, this movie doesn't take the predictable May-December sex route. It may be a little "politically incorrect" by today's standards, but I actually found far less creepy than the hypocritical morality of America today (where the media goes into morally-outraged hysterics every time some celebrity nymphet appears in a racy photo or video clip, even as they show this same photo or clip over and over. . .).
For what it's worth, Helen Mirren was well over "the age of consent" in real-life here, and she has the same GREAT body that would become in fixture in British art films and theater over the next three or four decades (even if she doesn't quite demonstrate the acting chops that recently earned her academy award for playing Queen Elizabeth II). This movie has its problems, including its very uneven tone, but it's definitely worth watching.
The tone of this movie is kind of strange, going from light-hearted comedy to sudden tragedy and back again. It was directed Michael Powell, after this once- respected director had pretty much torpedoed his own career with the movie "Peeping Tom", which was considered unforgivably sleazy in its era in Britain, but is regarded as somewhat of classic today. Mason (who also co-produced) plays a role similar to the one he played in Stanley Kubrick's notorious film version of "Lolita". He walks the same fine line between an erudite artist trying shake off the shackles of bourgeois morality and a mere pervert lusting after some nubile flesh. Nevertheless, this movie doesn't take the predictable May-December sex route. It may be a little "politically incorrect" by today's standards, but I actually found far less creepy than the hypocritical morality of America today (where the media goes into morally-outraged hysterics every time some celebrity nymphet appears in a racy photo or video clip, even as they show this same photo or clip over and over. . .).
For what it's worth, Helen Mirren was well over "the age of consent" in real-life here, and she has the same GREAT body that would become in fixture in British art films and theater over the next three or four decades (even if she doesn't quite demonstrate the acting chops that recently earned her academy award for playing Queen Elizabeth II). This movie has its problems, including its very uneven tone, but it's definitely worth watching.
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Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Norman Lindsay's Age of Consent
- Filming locations
- Dunk Island, Queensland, Australia(filmed on the Great Barrier Reef at Dunk Isle, North Queensland)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
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