Age of Consent

1969, 1080hd

Johnny's comments:

An Australian Classic update, from over 50 years ago and technically even before Australian New Wave cinema began.

I'd seen Age Of Consent before, probably from a local TV showing but I didn't really remember much of the first half of the movie. Still in the stage where Australian movies were being mostly made by foreign directors, this time exiled British director Michael Powell who also directed the 1966 Australian ethnic comedy They're A Weird Mob (which I haven't seen also it's wild that movie is Powell-Pressburger production). Anyway, this 1969 film is made mostly on Dunk Island in Queensland and it's basically about a painter (James Mason) who's sick of the city decides to spend some time on Dunk Island with his dog and a bunch of eccentric locals including Cora (Helen Mirren, very early in her career) who's a sheltered, underage girl who scavenges for her awful grandmother and is skimming a few dollars from her hauls so that she can save enough to head to Brisbane and become a hairdresser. The painter decides to help her out by asking her to pose for him but her evil grandmother is one step ahead and steals Cora's stash resulting in a series of events leading to the grandmother's death. Also, a shitty friend from Brisbane decides to track down the painter and 'borrow' a bit of money from him and ends up getting more than he bargained for from one of the painter's neighbours. Not a lot happens but it has a charm to it and Mirren is very good as the innocent girl who gets a taste of life outside of the island, something she craves. Interestingly for a movie called Age Of Consent, not a lot is made about the age of Cora apart from one mention from the grandmother and that terribly sappy song over the end credits. Mirren clearly looks older than 18 and if it wasn't for those mentions, it probably wouldn't be an issue. Also love how Mirren is credited in the movie as if it was a coup; Age Of Consent was an early credit but she was clearly going to go onto bigger and better things.

Helen Mirren film clip (collages below)

Clarissa Kaye Mason film clip (sample below)