Rent Age of Consent (1969)

Aussie Arthouse. - Age of Consent review by Steve

Michael Powell's final release is an adaptation of a banned autobiographical novel by Australian painter/sculptor Norman Lindsay. So it belongs in a group of the director's work about the psychology of the artist. James Mason is a nonconformist, a middle aged bohemian who searches for inspiration in the tropical backwater of the Great Barrier Reef.

He finds his muse in a wild girl who has grown up uneducated on the remote island. She is played by Helen Mirren in her first significant film role. This child of nature is uninhibited and awkward, but when swimming down among the coral and the fish she acquires a primal grace. The story reflects upon their freedom, and how it is compromised.

Like most of Powell's films, there is a strong, spiritual undertow to the flow of the narrative. This one is more comical than most, with some knockabout comedy, including an astonishing performance from Godfrey, the dog. It looks stunning, capturing the exotic grandeur of the Queensland coast, particularly the spectacular underwater photography.

Mason's Aussie accent comes and goes and Mirren doesn't even try. It was a big hit in Australia, but a flop elsewhere, and sadly Powell's final project was for the Children's Film Foundation. But this is a typically offbeat venture from the great director, both personal and magnificent. And it captures a way of living which has been lost.