FLIRT
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1996 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.0 Alternative Scale: **1/2 out of ****
United States, 1996 U.S. Release Date: beginnning 9/96 (limited) Running Length: 1:25 MPAA Classification: R (Sex, profanity, nudity, mature themes) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: William Sage, Martin Donovan, Parker Posey, Dwight Ewell, Dominik Bender, Miho Nikaido, Toshizo Fujiwara, Chikako Hara, Hal Hartley Director: Hal Hartley Producer: Ted Hope Screenplay: Hal Hartley Cinematography: Michael Spiller Music: Ned Rifle and Jeffrey Taylor U.S. Distributor: C/FP Distribution In English, German, and Japanese with subtitles
FLIRT is one of those films where I appreciate the idea a lot more than its execution. In fact, even though the film features all the Hal Hartley trademarks -- offbeat dialogue, quick cuts, bizarre diversions - - it loses its energy before the two-thirds point. Despite a few clever twists, the last half-hour is tired, illustrating that not all intriguing premises can be successfully transformed into a solid motion pictures, no matter how talented the film maker is.
FLIRT is actually a trilogy of shorts, all of which focus on identical subjects: betrayal and uncertainty about love. In fact, not only do the episodes explore similar issues, but they do so in exactly the same manner. Each segment is a slightly distorted image of the other two, down to individual lines. The characters and settings change, and there are small differences and individual quirks, but FLIRT is basically one story told three times. The third time is definitely not a charm. A certain amount of repetition is fine, but Hartley goes overboard, making this more suitable for film school study than theatrical entertainment.
Story #1 takes place in New York City during February of 1993. Hartley alum, Martin Donovan (AMATEUR), plays Walter, a man with a dilemma. His girlfriend, Emily (Parker Posey), has just issued an ultimatum: commit to a relationship or watch her fly off to Paris. Walter is torn, and, after asking for a ninety minute reprieve, he seeks out another woman he's involved with to find out whether she's willing to commit to that relationship. Instead of meeting the woman, however, he encounters her suicidal husband (Bill Sage), who is nursing a drink and a gun.
Story #2 takes place in Berlin during October of 1994. This is a homosexual version of the same plot. Here, the recipient of the ultimatum is Dwight (Dwight Ewell), and the person issuing it is an older man, not a woman. Other than that, it's all basically the same: the uncertainty about commitment, the meeting with the gun-toting spouse, and the events that follow. Story #3 is set in Tokyo, March 1995. The main character this time is a woman, Miho (Miho Nikaido, from TOKYO DECADENCE). Her boyfriend is director Hal Hartley, and the gun- wielder is her college professor's wife (Chikako Hara). By this time, not only will you know what's going to happen, but you'll have whole chunks of dialogue memorized.
There are times when FLIRT approaches brilliance. During the first segment, Walter walks into the men's room and asks for advice from a stranger at a urinal and those in the stalls. Their thoughtful, existential responses are hilarious. In the Berlin episode, a group of construction workers discuss whether the director of this film has failed, and whether "the failure is interesting." And, when in Tokyo, it's hard to miss that Hal Hartley is carrying a canister of film marked "True Fiction Pictures: FLIRT". Unfortunately, the movie only occasionally rises to this level. Most of the time, it's just repetitive.
Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON (which inspired this year's COURAGE UNDER FIRE) proved that it's possible to tell the same story more than once and still retain the audience's attention. Perhaps if FLIRT had used RASHOMON's hook -- varying the viewpoint -- it would have been more involving. As it is, however, the viewer's level of interest is likely to drop off long before the closing credits start to roll. Frankly, if I wanted to see repeats of the same half-hour story, I'd watch television.
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@bc.cybernex.net ReelViews web site: http://www.cybernex.net/~berardin
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