Flirt (1995 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Flirt

| image = Flirt FilmPoster.jpeg

| alt =

| caption =

| native_name =

| director = Hal Hartley

| screenplay = Hal Hartley

| based_on =

| producer = Ted Hope{{cite web|url=http://www.filmportal.de/en/movie/flirt_ea43d4a739505006e03053d50b37753d|publisher=Filmportal.de|title=Flirt|accessdate=June 11, 2016}}

| starring = {{plainlist|

Bill Sage
Dwight Ewell
Miho Nikaido}}

| narrator =

| cinematography = Michael Spiller

| editing = {{plainlist|*Hal Hartley

Steve Hamilton}}

| music = {{plainlist|*Hal Hartley

Jeffrey Taylor}}

| studio = Good Machine

| distributor = Pandora Film (Germany)

| released = {{Film date|1995}}

| runtime = 83 minutes

| country = {{plainlist|*United States

Germany
Japan}}

| language =

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Flirt is a 1995 drama film written and directed by Hal Hartley{{cite news |title=FILM; The Elusive Women Who Inhabit The Quirky Films of Hal Hartley (Published 1995) |work=The New York Times |date=9 April 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627151202/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/09/movies/film-the-elusive-women-who-inhabit-the-quirky-films-of-hal-hartley.html |archive-date=2023-06-27 |url-status=live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/09/movies/film-the-elusive-women-who-inhabit-the-quirky-films-of-hal-hartley.html |last1=Pall |first1=Ellen }} and produced by Good Machine.{{Cite book|title=FilmCraft. Producing|author=Macnab, Geoffrey|date=2013|publisher=Focal Press|others=Swart, Sharon.|isbn=978-0240823744|location=Burlington, MA|oclc=859154290}}

Introduction

The story takes place in New York, Berlin and Tokyo, with each segment using the same dialogue.

In New York, Bill struggles to decide whether he has a future with Emily, while attempting to restrain Walter, the angry husband of a woman he thinks he might be in love with.

In Berlin, Dwight has a similar experience with his lover, while the events that befall Miho in Tokyo take a more dramatic turn.

==Cast==

Bill Sage as Bill
Dwight Ewell as Dwight
Miho Nikaido as Miho
Parker Posey as Emily
Martin Donovan as Walter
Hal Hartley as Hal
Hannah Sullivan as Margaret
Geno Lechner as Greta
Toshizo Fujiwara as Ozu
Chikako Hara as Yuki
Peter Fitz as The Doctor
Michael Imperioli as Concerned Bar Patron
Harold Perrineau, Jr. as Man In Restroom #1
Robert John Burke as Man In Restroom #2
Liana Pai as Woman at Phone Booth
Maria Schrader as Girl In Phone Booth
José Zúñiga as Driver
Holt McCallany as The Bartender

Reception

= Critical reception =

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 11 reviews.{{Cite web |title=Flirt (1995) |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/flirt |website=Rotten Tomatoes}} On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.{{Cite web |title=Flirt (1995) |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/flirt/ |website=Metacritic}}

Film critic James Berardinelli rated the film 2.5 out of 4 stars.{{Cite web |last=Berardinelli |first=James |title=Reelviews Movie Reviews |url=https://www.reelviews.net/movies/f/flirt.html |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=Reelviews Movie Reviews |language=en}} Roger Ebert of Chicago Sun-Times gave it 2 out of 4 stars, stating that "It is more amusing to talk about than to experience." While he expresses his appreciation of the film's experimentation and its illustration of the mantra that a film is about how it's presented rather than its subject matter, he opines that it is more of an intellectual exercise than an enjoyable watch.{{Cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |title=Flirt movie review & film summary (1996) {{!}} Roger Ebert |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/flirt-1996 |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=RogerEbert.com |language=en}} Writing for SPIN, Michael Atkinson said that "by the third replay of the same dialogue, you're significantly less enchanted with the material than Hartley apparently is with himself."{{Cite book |last=LLC |first=SPIN Media |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fsRC10LkbN0C&pg=PA162 |title=SPIN |date=September 1996 |publisher=SPIN Media LLC |volume=12 |pages=162 |language=en |issn=0886-3032 |issue=6}}

Alison Macor of The Austin Chronicle gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, describing it as an "intriguing ride" and as Hartley's most ambitious film.{{Cite web |title=Movie Review: Flirt |url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/events/film/1996-10-11/flirt/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |website=www.austinchronicle.com |language=en-US}} Film critic Emanuel Levy described it as "a semi-academic treatise about the limits of narrativity," and opined that it "offers some minor rewards."{{Cite web |last=EmanuelLevy |date=2006-04-30 |title=Flirt: Hartley's Anthology–Three Stories, One Dilemma, Three Contexts - Emanuel Levy |url=https://emanuellevy.com/review/flirt-6/ |access-date=2023-11-03 |language=en}}