Product Details

• Actors: Noah Taylor, Thandie Newton, Nicole Kidman, Bartholomew Rose, Felix Nobis
• Directors: John Duigan
• Writers: John Duigan
• Producers: Barbara Gibbs, Doug Mitchell, George Miller, Terry Hayes
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, EP, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Vidmark / Trimark
• VHS Release Date: June 20, 1997
• Run Time: 99 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302725798
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,932 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

The second part of a projected trilogy by Australian director John Duigan (the preceding film was The Year My Voice Broke), Flirting is a wonderful tale of misfit adolescents who find their independence through a forbidden, interracial relationship. Noah Taylor returns to Duigan's ongoing story as Danny, a gangly stutterer with a wry wit, few friends, and a big crush on Thandiwe (Thandie Newton), a Ugandan student whose father is in some political danger back home. Danny goes to a boys academy and Thandiwe boards at a girls school nearby. The two meet secretly and deepen their doomed affair, exploring adulthood for the first time on their own terms. Duigan is a director who can occasionally be seduced by the surface of things, but Flirting is richly layered in tones both light and ominous, youthful performances that easily alternate between childhood buoyancy and grown-up passion, and a hard-won wisdom about the mysteries of loss. An added bonus is a terrific supporting performance by Nicole Kidman. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Superior coming of age from down under, June 27, 2000

By 

Dennis Littrell (SoCal) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flirting [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Don't let the title fool you. Although this is one of the sweetest movies you'll ever see, it is no beach blanket bingo for bimbos. This is an Aussie story of teen love set in 1965, heroic as only teens can play it. It is fun to watch, authentic and original at the same time, a coming of age flick in the English boarding school tradition of "Dead Poet's Society" (1989) and "A Separate Peace" (the novel, not the so-so movie). Noah Taylor stars as Danny Embling, an outsider who reads Sartre and Camus while satirizing the school's empty traditions. Across the lake is the girl's school where Thandiwe Adjewa (Thandie Newton), daughter of the Ugandan ambassador, is learning to meld with the Aussie pale faces, including a gifted pre-Hollywood Nicole Kidman.

Thandie Newton and Noah Taylor, as beautifully directed by John Duigan, are the reasons this film is so good. She has a fearless integrity about her that overcomes the prejudices of her school mates. He is wise and brave at a hundred and twenty pounds. She too is ultra sophisticated. She even met Sartre. This is a story about the love between two outsiders who, with their strength of character win over not only their classmates, but the audience as well. Imagine teenagers as witty and poised as say Eartha Kitt and Gore Vidal, and you get a hint of how it's played.

Nicole Kidman as the snobby Nicola Radcliffe (the name says it all) manages a subtle supporting role with a diamond-in-the-rough kind of charm and just the right touch of on-screen growth. The scene where she shares her stash of vodka (or perhaps a clear fruit liquor) with Thandiwe Adjewa is beautifully turned by Director John Duigan. Also excellent is the hotel scene where the adults are revealed as intrusive in the extreme. I like Danny Embling's line as he deadpans to a re-robing Thandiwe, "They're all funny, aren't they?" Yes, those adults are a little peculiar.

This is not unflawed, however. The ending, despite the rousing music, seemed a bland washout, leaving us with a sense of disappointment. And I thought the first love scene with the two "touching" was a little unreal. I mean he might have kissed her! There's a limit to how great a coming of age, boarding school movie can be, especially when the adults have only scarecrow parts. Nonetheless "Flirting" is a confectioner's delight, and one of the best coming of age movies I've ever seen.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect film, August 25, 2002

By 

Arthur Delaney (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flirting (DVD)

This is certainly one of the finest examples of a coming of age picture, the first time I saw it I was quite literally shocked in every scene how true to life the dialogue was. The only place I have seen teen dialogue anywhere near as accurate is in the ill-fated TV drama My So-Called Life. Though his directing was marvelous, I think Duigan's writing is the most impressive. Newton and Taylor are spectacular and I have no words for their performances.

I disagree somwhat however with some of my fellow reviewers. I think the ending is fantastic and hopeful, really a sweet goodbye kiss of an ending. Also the love scene (where they don't kiss) seems absolutely perfect. The only reason I think anyone could possibly think it is not just how these things happen has been seduced by the formulaic nature of sex scenes rubber stamped into existence by Hollywood. The, yes, the genius which it took to write that scene is harrowing. Knowing these characters, knowing the situation leading up to it, the scene is soft, and delightful. I am still floored that someone could capture a scene so true that you feel it must have happened to you, and it is one of several like that. Unlike one other reviewer, I think Flirting is much better at this then The Year My Voice Broke which was very good, but Taylor had not come into his own as a young actor yet. Also to the person who said teenagers are too immature for this, I disagree. Some of them? Sure, undoubtedly. But to those who love watching the rerun marathons of My So-Called Life on MTV this will come as a breath of fresh air, a sense of relief that Jason Katims isn't the only person in the world who can write teen dialogue. There is in fact someone much better, John Duigan.

The only bad thing I can say about this film is that MGM marketing should hide their heads in shame for the cover design of both the DVD and the VHS tape. The DVD in particular is embarrassing. The fact that Kidman's name and her name alone is the one above the title is shocking even to a person like me who normally doesn't get that upset by unashamed materialism. Kidman does a fine, unremarkable job as a supporting character. She's barely in the first half at all and is quite forgettable. The supporting role of Gilby, Taylor's pretentious friend (played by Bartholomew Rose) is much more worthy of note.

I am so excited that this is coming to DVD (in widescreen no less which unfortunately The Year My Voice Broke did not) I can't express myself. I know there is a lot out there to buy, a lot out there we want and limited funds but...just trust me and buy this. If you remember being a teenager, if you remember how hard it was, and the moments that were really beautiful...Or if you simply can recognize the magnificence of the beautiful, earth-shattering event that occurs when two people look into each other's eyes and really see the person looking back at them....then buy it. You'll be glad you did.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love without Bounds, January 6, 2004

By 

E. Kim "A great man should die as a shattered... (South Korea) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Flirting (DVD)

Really a superb, charming, and deep coming of age movie. When I first saw the dvd box, I had no interest at all to see this. I thought the cover was sort of tacky and my first impression of the film was that of a corny teen comedy. Needless to say, I saw this on tv and was really amazed how good this movie was. Probably the most impressive aspect of "Flirting" was the grace of the script and how well all the young actors and actresses performed. Noah Taylor and Thandie Newton were just outstanding and really believable. I really enjoyed Nicole Kidman and Naomi Watts also in their supporting roles. It was really great to see all these big names in roles before they made it big. Much respect to director and writer John Duigan. Cameron Crowe has stated that Noah Taylor is one of his favorate actors and you can definately see that he has to be a fan of Duigan's too. I was more amazed to learn that "Flirting" was a sequel and even more amazed when I watched the previous film, "The Year My Voice Broke."