(1995)
3
Andrea LeVasseur
The ambitious structural device of Flirt -- essentially telling the same story in three different contexts -- is an intriguing idea, but makes for a boring movie. This is simply because the repetition becomes tiresome, with audiences not only knowing what will happen next, but almost having the lines memorized by the end of one viewing. The first segment is a straightforward tale in New York, told in the humorous Hartley style with a lot of quick deadpan dialogue. Switching to the less-witty second segment with the gay lovers in Berlin is jarring, and Hartley seems to cushion the blow with a little self-reflexive humor. In some lighthearted bits intercut with the dramatic story line, construction workers on a break discuss the film itself and its merits or failures. One wishes more of the movie could be like this, aware of its own structure and funny about it. Instead, the three stories mostly just play out, concluding with the final segment in Tokyo, which is strangely lacking in Hartley's trademark dialogue and requires more patience to watch. By staging the same story in three different time zones, it seems that important cultural comparisons would emerge. However, the nature of the style dominates over any character development, leaving the romantic situations hollow and flat. What Flirt turns out to be is a good study in form, but it doesn't quite emotionally register.
Flirt on AllMovie
Flirt (1995)
