Age of Consent (1969) User Reviews

An enjoyable film with the lovely Helen .

[MrOllie · 7/10 · 10 May 2011]

Whilst this is not a masterpiece of film making, I found it an enjoyable piece of entertainment. Who could not enjoy watching a young Helen Mirren spending much of the time naked? The story is about an artist(James Mason) going to live on an Island in the Great Barrier Reef where he meets young Cora(Mirren)who lives with her horrid granny. He gets Cora to pose naked for him on many occasions. There is some drama along the way and also some comedy mainly from Jack MacGowran, (especially when being pursued by a man mad woman) plus some lovely scenic shots of the island. But by far the best scenery on show is the lovely Helen. Just sit back and enjoy!!

The woman who could launch a thousand ships...

[swillsqueal · 7/10 · 8 December 2007]

As always, Helen Mirren is delightful to see. And James Mason finally gets to be with his Lolita. And oh, I did find Mason's mate more aggravating than an Australian fly. For those who haven't experienced them, Australian flies will just never leave you alone. They're aggressive little insects who are attracted to any body with water. Don't sweat, and yet, how can one help but sweat when Helen Mirren is around. She's a gorgeous woman, always has been and will be. A great actress too. This romp does her justice as a start in film. Don't forget to her her cameo appearance in "Oh Lucky Man", made around this same time.

Age of Consent: Great performances, generic film

[Platypuschow · 5/10 · 14 August 2017]

I confess, I watched this for Helen Mirren. All I ever heard of the legendary actress is how amazing she was when she was younger so having never seen one of her early works I gave this a shot.

For a start I have to say Helen Mirren is a stunning elegant woman and a fantastic actress, in her younger days people were not exaggerating......she was beyond beautiful.

In this Australian film with English leads we watch an ailing painter find his muse on a secluded island while taking a break from it all. Sadly that pretty much embodies the storyline and aside from a couple of quirky side characters and goofball antics the movie has very little substance.

Instead of rooting for our leading man I found myself a bit concerned by him, I found him rather perverted and it could be argued a bit exploitative.

Age Of Consent isn't a bad film and is in fact quite charming and visually stunning but beyond that has little going for it.

Come for the movie, stay for the Helen Mirren.

I get the impression many actresses look back with regret on early roles featuring nudity but here I'd imagine Mirren would look back fondly as this is a respectful piece and she looks very in her element.

He only wanted her for her body

[jshoaf · 13 May 2004]

He only wanted her for her body--to paint, of course....

I just saw this film and found it absolutely delightful. As others have noted, Helen Mirren is a wonder as a young girl working out the relationship between her body's strength and its beauty, and how each can help her get what she wants. There is one moment, when she takes control of a motorboat after having dumped a would-be lover overboard, when I saw the future Jane Tennison. James Mason is also marvelous as the obsessive painter. The natural setting, on the Great Barrier Reef, is liberating and beautiful but the heart of the movie is the little cabin which goes from a dump to a layered, painted work of art. This man's passion to make things, to create color and line on every available surface, seems to fill the movie's surface too. Near the end, when Cora enters the cabin and we see her surrounded by his paintings of her, the relationship between art and life seems to be a very happy one. It's too bad Michael Powell didn't get to make more films in the 1960s and early 70s. I think that if I could have seen this film at the time it was made (when I was a girl in my late teens, for whom nudity was not an option) it would have meant a lot to me.

Age of Consent

[jonathanruano · 6/10 · 9 June 2010]

In spite of the scandalous looking title, "Age of Consent" is not about a woman losing her virginity or a lolita-type relationship (because Helen Mirren looks underage the same way that Anne Hathaway looks underage). "Age of Consent" is simply about an artist (James Mason) searching for his artistic inspiration in Australia and finally finding his very own muse named Cora (Helen Mirren) who does a lot of naked posing for him.

Now if you are looking for a thought provoking or profound film about the human condition, "Age of Consent" is not for you. But if you already had a few beers on a Friday night and are looking for some light entertainment with a bit of charm, then this film is just right. "Age of Consent" has everything you (as one of the guys) would want to see in a film after getting drunk: a funny dog (Godfrey, who almost steals the show), a naked 24 year old Helen Mirren, lots of nature, some amusing locals, a naked 24 year old Helen Mirren, more nature, marine life and oh yes, getting to see 24 year old Helen Mirren nude! It is not a masterpiece, but I have to admit I watched "Age of Consent" to the end.

First time to see Helen Mirren(several years ago)

[llawwill · 7/10 · 17 December 2003]

This is the first time seeing Helen Mirren and she is young and quite pretty. I have seen her in many other movies and at least one TV series since and I still think her on-screen presence is powerful. Although her performance showed some on-screen nudity in this, it is not in any way a bad thing. It is quite a thing of beauty. I rate the movie a 7 out of 10.

Age of Consent

[mcannady1 · 7/10 · 2 November 2015]

Movie Girl - I just wanted to add something I think is important - the real heart of the story. First I have to say I was still in high school when this film was made and never saw it until a friend sent me a copy recently.

I do think they went a bit far with the nude scenes, but the girl very nicely played by Helen Mirren was genuinely naive and was suddenly realizing that she had a nice figure. At the same time Cora as the young girl picked up on the fact that she was becoming attracted to this erudite artist with the great voice, of course. - James Mason was the "elderly" artist. She had genuinely fallen for him and was very hurt that he had made their association a "paying" affair. He bought her fish and did not seem personally interested in her. He also painted her in nude scenes.

Cora's aunt? is always wrongly suspecting her of a sexual rendezvous and trails her around. When she falls over a cliff, the girl has little remorse.

During the story we see Cora reject the man in the boat making sexual advances and also the guy who shows up in the cottage who is curious about the artist's paintings. (So we see that Cora is not a person who is promiscuous, nor is the artist, usually.). The painter explains to his overly curious visitor that it is not a personal affair.

All along in an invisible fashion was the title of the film, Age of Consent which meant just that. Cora was supposed to be 17 and for this very reason the painter does not make advances to her.

At the same time she does not think of this and takes it all as a rejection. The ending is quite delightful -- no spoiler intended as she accuses him of not caring about her at all and is in the water - splashing at him and he says that is not true. After the splashing scenes we can well imagine the scenes that ensue.

So as a person who usually likes older films for romance I do admire James Mason and for this reason watched the film. I think he and Helen Mirren made this story into something more than a risqué adventure. The key element at the end was love for both, though the painter was too old for his model. It was all in the perception of both.

And what of the girl he had sex with in the beginning? Well, I guess he was carried away. James Mason later married this girl, Clarissa Kaye in the 70's. I was glad to read that James escaped from his disastrous first marriage; sadly did not marry again until years later.

One thing more - Some people ventured the opinion that the term Age of Consent was outdated but I do not believe this is so. It made a nice undercurrent for the film and its ultimate denouement.

Enjoyable comedy drama from Michael Powell

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 13 December 2012]

Australian artist Bradley Morahan has no difficulty selling his paintings in New York but is having difficulty finding the inspiration for new works; he needs to get away from the bustling city and back to the remote Queensland coast he came from. Once back he and his dog move in to a one room shack on a small island. There are only three other people living on the island; teenage girl Cora, her drunken grandmother and middle aged Isabel Marley. He strikes up a friendship with Cora as she sells him seafood and a (stolen) chicken. She needs the money so she can get away from her awful grandmother who takes all the money Cora earns selling local seafood to a mainland shop and spends it on gin. Wanting a model Bradley offers Cora fifty cents an hour to pose for him; $1.50 if she will do it naked. It isn't long before she almost has enough to leave the island once and for all; she just has to make sure her grandmother doesn't find where she has hidden it. It looks like Bradley could have money troubles too when old friend Nat Kelly turns up begging for a loan and willing to just take the money if it isn't given. When Cora's grandmother finds her money she accuses Cora of prostituting herself to Bradley; he insists he just painting her but she insists that she will inform the police as Cora is under the age of consent.

This film is fairly light but contains a good mix of drama and comedy. James Mason does a good job as Bradley although his Australian accent is a bit off... I guess that might be justified if he had been in New York a long time! The young Helen Mirren was charming as Cora even if she was clearly older than her character; not a bad thing given the number of times she is seen undressed. Jack MacGowran provides much of the comedy as Nat; desperate to get some money but not so desperate that he will stay on the island after the attentions of Isabel! The setting adds to the films charm; one can't help feel relaxed watching the blue sea lapping at the island's beach for much of the time. Given that there is a fair amount of nudity the film feels surprisingly innocent; they are just an artist and his model and it is filmed in a way that does not seem leering. This might not be a classic but it is well worth watching.

Restored ! with nudity!

[ptb-8 · 9/10 · 19 June 2005]

THE AGE OF CONSENT made in 1969 on Dunk Island of the great barrier (coral) reef was quite a success in Australia in its day. Apparently though it was heavily cut Internationally with some nude scenes deleted and the first 10 minutes shortened. Well the planet can now rejoice because a carefully restored complete version is now available and has had a premiere screening in Sydney in the magnificent 2300 seat State Theatre as part of the 2005 Sydney Film Festival. It will appear Internationally in festivals and then on DVD for all to savor. The story is by Norman Lindsay, a world renowned artists whose bacchanalian paintings of luscious nude sirens have caused erotic reactions (good and bad) for over 100 years. (See the film SIRENS)..... THE AGE OF CONSENT details an artist (here called Bradley Morrison) similar to Lindsay, played by a fit and tanned James Mason who travels to tropical isolation in an attempt to regain his artist eye. He does of course with the form of shapely nude teenage island muse, Cora: Helen Mirrenin her first voluptuous role. There is so much to enjoy in THE AGE OF CONSENT from Mason and Mirren's balanced careful performances to the secondary characters, mainly in the form of spectacular handsome and virile 24 year old Harold Hopkins, an Australian actor in one of his first appearances. He has been unjustly ignored in this film's reputation and it is time to celebrate his appearance (as the spunky gauche youth, Ted) and recognize his astonishing good looks and hilarious turn trying to be Cora's boyfriend. Ten years ahead of Mel Gibson and far better looking, fitter and far more screen presence. Unfortunately his film career did not succeed as well. Today, Hopkins is not well known and looks more like Andy Warhol. Celebrated Brit director Michael Powell whose comedy THEY'RE A WEIRD MOB was a massive local success in 1966 turned his adept hand to this romantic tropical artistic fruit salad with generally very enjoyable results. Certain sequences just between Mirren and Mason are so effective that the viewer is left with the extraordinary feeling of having actually been there with them that day on the beach. Sadly this was Powell's last film in a career lasting over 30 years producing endurable classics in both the UK and Oz. Subplots involving Mason's racing pal who pesters him for cash and follows him about, to Cora's hag-like granny who berates her beauty are overplayed and create pantomime, but this is a small detraction from what is a generally astonishingly visually beautiful romantic drama of loneliness and artistic endeavor. The color photography, I was thrilled to learn, was achieved by duplicating the original Technicolour method of a three reel tint (YCM) on black and white stock then matching all three to create a color negative. As I marveled at the sublime color of this restored print I had wondered how it was so perfect. An after-film Q&A segment revealed this color film(ed) method and I am happy to pass on this important piece of tech info. THE AGE OF CONSENT is a film of its time but also with content explicit and exquisite for a new century audience. If one gets the opportunity to see this restored version, it contains visual delights and location atmosphere captured carefully and restored lovingly that transfers to the viewer with humorous ease. Yes Mirren has hairy legs and Mason doesn't wear underpants and the lesser characters are Aussie parrots..but that's part of the story! Enjoy THE AGE OF CONSENT. It is a film of which Helen Mirren today would be especially so proud...as would Harold Hopkins. One scene where Cora wistfully buys herself a cheap children's plastic handbag at the local store is genuinely touching depicting her lonely wish to own something 'nice'. The delusion and loneliness captured perfectly for this beautiful sad girl stuck in paradise but without real appreciation (except for Mason). The opening scene is now hilarious with a risqué painting of the Columbia woman Logo as part of a provocative art exhibition.

Of muses and mojos

[tomsview · 6/10 · 28 March 2014]

I remember there was a lot of media hype in Australia about this movie when it was first released. I thought it was a bit of an oddity then, and it definitely is today.

Bradley Morahan (James Mason), a successful Australian artist based in New York is dissatisfied with his art and his life. He heads for North Queensland and a remote island on the Great Barrier Reef. Here he meets some of the locals including a young girl, Cora (Helen Mirren), whose grandmother is an eccentric old beachcomber.

Despite constant reminders from her grandmother that she is underage, Cora becomes Bradley's model and muse, restoring his belief in his art and himself. "You've given me back my eyes; you've taught me to love things again ", he exclaims at the end of the movie as their relationship blossoms, despite the 30-year age gap.

Based on a novel by Norman Lindsay, the film was made about the time he died. Decades earlier, Norman Lindsay had outraged prudish Australian society with his art, which often featured well-rounded, naked nymphs cavorting with leering satyrs.

But as this movie showed, society had caught up with his ideas and even surpassed them in what was termed permissible - he seemed a bit out of touch by this time, and had outlived his particular crusade against Puritanism.

Unfortunately, the art on show in "Age of Consent" doesn't show much of Lindsay's influence - he was a brilliant artist. Bradley's paintings and sketches in the movie are a combination of the work of two Australian artists: John Coburn produced the strongly patterned New York paintings, and Paul Delprat did the scenes on the island in what could only be called a naïve style.

The biggest connection to Lindsay's art is actually Helen Mirren, who had 'the equipment', as Michael Parkinson once described her voluptuous figure, that would have had kept Norman Lindsay happily working away at his easel for hours.

The restored version of the film also features Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe's lyrical score, which was replaced with one by the more experienced British film composer, Stanley Myers. Interestingly, Myers' score seemed a more revved up version of Sculthorpe's work.

It was pretty much Helen Mirren's first film, but it was a considerable way into James Mason's career. What a presence he had. The mellifluous, honey-toned voice was as hypnotic as ever, despite a half-hearted attempt at an Australian accent. The rest of the cast were mainly Australian, playing characters of varying levels of eccentricity and annoyance. Irish actor Jack MacGowran as Nat Kelly is particularly strident. The comedy in the film is definitely of the broad variety and was no funnier back in 1969 than it is now.

With a particularly messy script, the film is more of a novelty than anything else, but does feature two magnetic actors at opposite ends of their careers - it's worth a look for that alone.

Far from its director's best.

[MOscarbradley · 5/10 · 8 December 2018]

There's a touch of the Gulley Jimsons as well as Paul Gaughin to the artist that James Mason plays in Michael Powell's final 'proper' feature film "Age of Consent". It isn't very good but it's also a hard film to dislike; it's as if everyone involved is having a holiday in one of the most beautiful places on earth, (Dunk Island in Queensland), and having more fun than we are.

It is, then, thin on plot but strong on scenery. Others enjoying the sun and the sand are a young Helen Mirren, (the wild spirit who becomes Mason's muse), and Jack MacGowran, (the scrounger who comes to stay). There is some wildly misplaced comedy as well as a lot of well-cured ham from the supporting cast, (Mason and Mirren, at least, are nicely subdued), and if it is something of a comedown for its director it still manages to exude a peculiar charm all its own.

Quirky Pleasure

[kenjha · 8/10 · 16 March 2009]

A famous painter retreats to a somewhat remote island in Australia's Great Barrier Reef to inspire his creativity and finds a young woman to pose for him. Mason is fine as the painter. In one of her earliest roles, Mirren looks amazingly young and alluring as the object of Mason's desire. MacGowran provides the comedy as Mason's unwanted guest on the island. There isn't much of a plot in this laid-back and light-hearted comedy, but it features a quirky cast of characters and is quite enjoyable. The dog is cute and receives on-screen billing. The island setting is beautifully filmed under Powell's masterful direction.

Hello and Goodbye

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 3 May 2017]

An elderly artist (James Mason) thinks he has become too stale and is past his prime. His friend (and agent) persuades him to go to an off-shore island to try once more. On the island he rediscovers his muse in the form of a young girl.

This film is notable for two reasons: as the final film of Michael Powell, and for the first starring role of Helen Mirren. The film made my list of to-see because I have been going through the complete works of Powell. I must say, however, this is not one of his great works. Still a good film, but a far cry from his great entries.

What really disappointed me was just how "1960s England" the film is. The art show, the idea of looser morals... it makes the story seem less timeless than it could be. That in itself does not ruin anything, but it does not help.

Badly miscast and boring movie

[chall-5 · 2/10 · 22 April 2008]

This is not a good movie. In fact it's so bad, one wonders why it was made. James Mason is a bored painter... who gives an appropriately boring performance. Helen Mirren is supposed to be a naive young girl, but she's too old for the part and comes across as mildly retarded.

The rest of the cast consists of character actors who were apparently directed to overact as much as possible.

There's also a repetitive music score which does nothing to help.

The scenery is beautiful, but that's not enough. Perhaps the nudity was considered ground-breaking back then, but the movie is just indecipherable today.

A light film, with some hilarious moments.

[pinback-3 · 24 October 1999]

Compared to the many classics Michael Powell had previously directed, this Australian film is just a light, piece of fluff, but it is worth watching to see the young Helen Mirren and another solid performance by James Mason, who must have had a particular interest in playing this part as he also co-produced the film. Don't be misled by the title, the issue of sexual relations between an older man and an under-age girl is only really hinted at, the main theme being the need for an artist to find new inspiration. The tone of the film is essentially light, and, for me, the highlight is a couple of hilarious scenes in which Jack McGowran, as Mason's scrounging mate Nat Kelly, meets his comeuppance at the hands of a man-hunting neighbor of Mason's.

Eccentrics run amok in North Queensland

[robert-temple-1 · 7/10 · 7 December 2010]

This is a quirky and highly eccentric film. 'Over the top' is an inadequate description. The sight of James Mason with a beard and a deep tan doing an Australian accent is eerie and unsettling. He does not sustain the accent very well, but he tries mightily. And once he even convincingly says: 'It's byute!' He is meant to be a famous Australian artist, and to convince us that he is in the correct milieu, he sits in front of a book about Sidney Nolan, and just to rub it in even further, 'Sid' and Arthur Boyd are mentioned on television. So the scene is set. But what Nolan and Boyd probably never did was go and live alone in a run-down shack on an island at the Great Barrier Reef in North Queensland, and paint a naked nymph. Not that they didn't fancy naked nymphs, it's just that, well, the Great Barrier Reef??? A hut??? Alone??? This may be what drew Mason to the project, since he and Michael Powell jointly produced it, and that means they were serious. Mason must have wanted a jolly good holiday in the sun, far from his austere Switzerland where he lived, and a naked girl cavorting around him also must have seemed just the thing. That naked girl is none other than Miss Mironov, better known as Helen Mirren, and she was aged 24 at the time. Over the years I have become exasperated at hearing all my male friends gasp with lust about Mironov. She never did anything for me, but I am in the extreme minority, indeed have often been met with expostulations of disbelief when I confessed my indifference. What was wrong with me? That is a question many people have speculated about, without coming to any sound conclusions. If being turned off by Mironov is a sign of something, then I plead guilty. But apart from that, she is of course a superb actress, and she even does very well in this role which could easily have been silly. Instead, she manages to be convincing. And that was not easy, as the story is in so many ways ridiculous. This was Michael Powell's last effort at directing, after which he passed beyond the Great Barrier Reef. The film may be feeble in countless ways, but it is genuinely amusing and its affectionate sending-up of the Ossies by portraying wildly caricatured Ossie types was very funny. Mason's friend Nat, played by Jack MacGowran, is as outré as a character actor can get, but nevertheless believable. He overacts so emphatically that he is simply hilarious. Yes, the film is engrossing in its own bizarre fashion. For the time it was meant to be highly erotic, and doubtless was, but in those days, things were simpler. Even the phrase 'age of consent' is no longer used. After all, now that girls of ten are routinely pregnant, what is the 'age of consent' any longer but a fig leaf to mask the hypocrisy of the older people who insist on believing that young people are still demure? Today, the idea of a 24 year-old girl running around naked on a beach would not be a bit unusual, or even a 17 year-old, which is the supposed age of Mironov's character. There is no use taking this film seriously, instead it should be viewed as a comedy which was never intended to be anything but a romp. There is also a very clever dog star named Godfrey who gets a whole single screen credit to himself. (That is how whimsical this film really is!) His best trick is to rush back to the hut and slip his neck back into his collar which is tied up so that when James Mason arrives home, he does not know that Godfrey has been running along the beach playing for hours and, like all the people in this film, romping like mad.

The 22 Year Old Helen Mirren

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 4 October 2020]

The second film to emerge from Michael Powell's Australian exile - and his last for a mainstream audience - still remains relatively obscure, and those introduced to it are usually surprised and delighted to discover that such a record exists of a young Helen Mirren romping starkers on the Great Barrier Reef.

She herself disliked working working with Powell because he shouted a lot and was shocked at how enormous her backside looked on the big screen. Still awe-inspiring at 75, over half a century ago she even then looked more like a thirty year-old pretending to be a naive young teenager than a young woman in her early twenties.

He's getting a vacation he'll never forget.

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 14 September 2020]

One of Helen Mirren's first films is this unforgettable exotic drama that deals with a Hemingway like artist (James Mason) who, trying to find some ambition to get himself back behind the canvas, goes to a tropical setting where he becomes friendly with a local girl (Mirren) who models in the nude for him. She has a cackling, constantly drunk grandmother (Neva Carr-Glynn), certain that Mirren is fornicating with anything and everybody. When granny goes too far, Mirren stands up to her and this results in a twist that will alter the course of Mason and Mirren's up to now professional relationship.

I'll never forget the sight of the elderly granny running around swinging her raised cane with the intention of striking. A combination of Granny from "The Beverly Hillbillies" and various cartoon old ladies, she's very witch like in her anger, and the over-the-top Neva Carr-Glynn doesn't even stop to breathe while speeding around faster than Margaret Hamilton on her broomstick.

The romance that is insinuated between Mason and Mirren is very subtle, and of course, there will be the temptation to compare this to "Lolita". They have a nice sparkle together, but I saw it more as a budding friendship, like a fun-loving uncle with a niece who enjoys his company. This has some beautiful photography with natural settings, many on the beach and some underwater photography that shows off some exotic fish. It is enjoyable fluff, and quite surprising in the film credits of Michael Powell who directed many classic British films in the 1940's.

Kept my attention

[nicholls_les · 7/10 · 20 February 2019]

This is an odd movie in many ways but it has a lot of drama and humor. The dog was very amusing as was the drunk old lady. Others have commented on the content of this movie but I would say the title is misleading.

Pleasant surprise

[zetes · 8/10 · 25 January 2009]

A very pleasant surprise. I had expected Michael Powell's last feature to be mediocre at best, with the one selling point of a nude, young Helen Mirren, but it's actually a pretty good movie. Not the director's best, of course, but it's quite sweet and beautiful. James Mason plays an Australian painter who has difficulty perfecting an Australian accent. He flees the city for an island in the Great Barrier Reef, where he can relax and paint. There he meets a 17 year old girl (Mirren in her first film role) who dreams of moving to the big city. He's entranced by her beauty, and agrees to fund her dreams if she'll pose for him, often nude. Despite the lurid title, the film isn't sensationalistic or pornographic. Mason's interest, despite what some of the townsfolk might think, is purely artistic. It's much like the film, actually. You might watch it for the naked lady, but you stick around for the artistry. And Powell's artistry is intact, fully. Besides the enveloping cinematography (not to mention some beautiful underwater photography), you'll find plenty of Archers-esquire touches, like the dog chasing toads out the door. The story is pretty thin, but that's not uncommon amongst Powell's many travelogue films. It's often very funny, especially with Jack MacGowran and Neva Carr-Glynn. Oh yeah, and Helen Mirren, 24, gets naked a lot. That's definitely worth checking out!

several versions of this are floating around

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 31 March 2024]

Directed by michael powell, formerly part of the powell and pressburger production team. It stars james mason, sixty-ish, and helen mirren, twenty five-ish. Big names, although mirren was just getting started on her film career. When artist and writer brad morahan wants to get away from people and problems, he escapes to an island off the barrier reef. But even there, he can't find peace and quiet. His friend follows him from the city, and steals all brad's money. The greedy, cranky mother of his young model is hounding him, and even his dog is causing trouble. What a mess! Can any of this be straightened out? Very loosely based on the life of norman lindsey, aussie artist and writer. Familiar face peggy cass from mame is in here in a small role. It's good! Kind of a farce, but pretty much based on lindsey's life.

The ONLY Reason to See this Film is Helen Mirren

[[e-mail] · 5/10 · 8 May 2009]

POSSIBLE SPOILERS If I understand correctly, "Age of Consent" was Helen Mirren's first starring vehicle. She was already a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and, at 23, a real beauty. Playing opposite James Mason, then 60, Mirren acts the part of Cora, who wants to escape the Great Barrier Reef where she lives with her drunken and abusive grandmother, to become a hairdresser in Brisbane. Mason, as Bradley Morahan, a well-known and financially successful painter, comes to the reef from New York, seeking to restore his spirit in isolation. Disappointed to find others on the spit of land where he takes up residence, Morahan soon discovers Cora as a supplier of food. Shortly, he takes to sketching her and pays her to pose. Eventually, Morahan acquires everything needs to paint her. Mostly, she models in the nude, and she is often shown swimming naked under water. With exception of her pubic area, every part of her body is on display at one time or another, and an absolutely gorgeous body it is. Unfortunately, Mirren's nudity is displayed in the service of a story that is not very interesting and not very well told. Mason was a fine actor and is persuasive in his role. Michael Powell may have been excellent director, but his reputation was surely not built on the basis of this film. "The Age of Consent" refers to Cora's age, which is supposed to be 17 therefore making her sexually unavailable legally. Morahan displays no interest in having sex with Cora and, until the very end of the film, she shows no sign of wanting to have sex with him. But the age restriction helps to explain why grandma, normally very disagreeable, goes into an overdrive of sputtering rage at the interaction between Cora and Morahan. Mirren is slightly unconvincing physically at a 17 year old. However, she was already an accomplished actress when this film was made and her bearing and manner perfectly mirror the age of her character. I found this film interesting ONLY because it displays Mirren -- ALL of her -- at the beginning of a distinguished career. Mason, a fine actor, made many, many better movies.

A wonderful movie, controversial in its time

[simonotsimple · 8/10 · 17 January 2003]

This was a wonderful movie. Those who criticise it probably missed the sixties. It was a liberating expression of moral freedom in its time. Cora spent most of the film frolicking about naked and what a wonderful lindsayan figure of a woman she was! I just loved this movie and would recommend it to anyone to see. Take a moment out to travel back in time to the beginnings of your moral freedoms.

Enjoyable, and beautifully shot, though a little light on substance

[I_Ailurophile · 7/10 · 23 December 2022]

Films may have any number of different strengths. For some it's the acting, for others the story, and in some cases it's effects, or stunts, or comedy. I'm of the mind that the chief selling point of this title is its cinematography - Hannes Staudinger's, sure, but the underwater work of Ron and Valerie Taylor is exquisite. Between the gorgeous filming locations, the cinematographers' contributions, and Michael Powell's keen eye as director, 'Age of consent' is a rather beautiful picture. The production design and art direction, too, are terrific; the visual presentation is rich and flavorful all around. True, I think the cast give fine performances (Neva Carr Glyn rather steals the show as overbearing, screeching Ma Ryan), and we're treated to light humor peppered among swell character moments throughout this comedy-drama. More sparing are discrete threads of plot in a feature where not a lot actually, specifically happens for most of these 106 minutes. Fifty years on, this may yet be most notable of all as an early role of the great Helen Mirren, only 24 years old when this was released.

None of this is to downplay any of the work that went into this movie, for it's well made all around. This is lightly amusing, lightly engaging, and all around a pleasant viewing experience no matter what glimmers of more severe drama may appear around the edges. That it saves pretty much all its concrete plot for the last two-fifths of the length is perhaps another matter; 'Age of consent' feels imbalanced, with all its (light) weight in the back end. The result is a title that mostly just comes and goes rather fleetingly, without any especial spark or vitality to help it stick. It's enjoyable, and worth checking out, and surely most suggested for fans of those involved. As there's so little distinct substance to particularly grab onto, however, it's also hard to give any major recommendation. Save it for a quiet day, perhaps, and just relax and see where the movie takes you.

Mason changes his accent for each delivery

[christopher-underwood · 4/10 · 21 November 2008]

Well, somebody was popping some pills or knocking back some serious liquor whilst this little number was being made. All of the acting, except that of Helen Mirren and occasional, James Mason, is well over the top - over acting carried in several places to out and out farce. Mason changes his accent for each delivery and gazes ahead expressionlessly like some blind mad man. How Mirren managed such an excellent performance and even half of it nude or semi nude is quite remarkable and for anyone who saw this at the time a very clear sign that here was a truly great actress. I don't know the story of how this film got made but I note Mason's interest as co-producer so maybe he put up some money. He must have really fancied dallying with the beautiful ms Mirren, and who wouldn't, but really!