Flirt (1995)
The same situation is played out in different cities (New York, Berlin and Tokyo). A lover has to choose whether to commit to a partner who is returning home. In each case there are other people involved, an ex-partner and someone else in a "permanent" relationship, what do they choose to do?
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Waste of time
Better Late Then Never
Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
The EXACT scene was played out over and over again WORD for freaking WORD but the gimmick was this same dull scene was acted out by DIFFERENT people in DIFFERENT cities.Wow! What a concept!When we got to what I think was the third go round with the gay couple, I just said to myself, "you've got to be an idiot to endure one more second of this garbage"! At that moment, for the first and only time in my film going history, I had ZERO interest in the balance of a film. I stick with even the most boring and goriest of movies because there is always hope that things will improve. Maybe, just maybe, I'll get something out of the experience. Not this time. "Flirt" was just too unbearable to stay in the theater. What a piece of SCHIT!Lowest possible rating 1/10
Flirt being the fifth Hal Hartley-film I've seen it's also the one I appreciated the least.You get to follow the same story in different places of the world (NY, Berlin, Tokyo) with different people.Although the run time wasn't even one and a half hour it felt longer. It must depend on that Berlin and Tokyo didn't really pass my quality control. And that might depend on that the previous Hartley-films I've seen have really been great and that Flirt's NY-episode also was great. It would have worked better as a short film. All by itself. But then seeing almost exactly the same "short story" again only with a twist didn't appeal to me much I discovered later on.If you like Hartley maybe you should see Flirt all because his trustful actors (Martin Donovan, Elina Löwensohn, Bill Sage, Michael Imperioli), his pretty unique way of making film and of course because of Ned Rifle's music.
The same story told three times in three countries but with different characters and culture values. Hartley goes for the Godardian style but without the political cheekiness. Nice to see Hartley try his hand at something a little different.
Although I'm a big fan of Hal Hartley's previous work (Trust, The Unbelievable Truth), I was a bit disappointed by Flirt. There are some clever elements to the film, including Hartley's always excellent dialog sequences. The repetition, providing different views on the same plot sequence, was well done. Overall, an above-average movie, particularly for Hartley followers.