Films Of Michael Powell - Age Of Consent / Stairway To Heaven DVD

 A Nice Pair
This DVD set contains two films made by director Michael Powell, Stairway to Heaven made in 1946 and Age of Consent made in 1969. I bought the set to obtain Age of Consent only so it's a bonus that Stairway to Heaven also turned out to be very watchable. As Stairway to Heaven has received considerable critical acclaim over the years from many movie reviewers I will not mention it further. Age of Consent was made in Australia in 1969 and in the fashion of that period it used overseas actors who adopted unconvincing Australian accents for their roles. Any Australians in the film had very minor parts. It concerns a successful artist (James Mason) who has become dissillusioned with the art world and decides to spend some time on a tropical island of the coast of Australia. Rather fortunately, one of the island's few inhabitants is an attractive young girl (Helen Mirren in her first major film role) who Mason takes a purely professional interest in and who ends up rejuvenating his interest in painting. This central theme, together with Mirren's acting are the highlights of the film. Various subplots concerning the supporting cast are fairly pointless and add nothing to the plot. The film captures the idyllic island paradise lifestyle very well and also does a good job of evoking the late 1960's era in Australia. Despite a few flaws the film would be of interest to those interested in the director and also to Australians interested in the history of our country's filmmaking.
Submitted by ibaker (Sydney Australia) 
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 rediscovering Powell
I remember 'A Matter of Life and Death' as'Stairway to Heaven',and this superb restoration reminds us of what a great master of cinema Mr Powell was. Re 'Age of Consent',I have to declare a pecuniary interest as I was the Film Editor ! Grover Crisp's meticulous restoration work is to be loudly applauded and we down under will be forever grateful. Anthony Buckley.
Submitted by buckleyfilm (Port Douglas,Qld,Australia.) 
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