''Flirt'' is a 1995 drama film written and directed by

Hal Hartley Hal Hartley (born November 3, 1959) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and composer who became a key figure in the American independent film movement of the 1980s and '90s. His films include '' The Unbelievable Truth'' (1989), ...

and produced by

Good Machine Good Machine Productions was an American independent film production, film distribution, and foreign sales company started in the early 1990 by its co-founders and producers, Ted Hope and James Schamus. David Linde joined as a partner in the l ...

Introduction

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

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 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 Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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

Cast

Bill Sage William Sage III (born April 3, 1962) is an American actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Hal Hartley. Sage has appeared in more than 90 movies, most notable ''American Psycho'' (2000), '' We Are What We Are'' (2013), '' Every ...

as Bill *

Dwight Ewell Dwight Ewell is an American actor known for his roles in films such as ''Chasing Amy'', ''Flirt'', ''Amateur'', ''Dogma'' and '' Man of the Century''. Early life Ewell's father fought in Vietnam and served six years in the United States military ...

as Dwight * Miho Nikaido as Miho *

Parker Posey Parker Christian Posey (born November 8, 1968) is an American actress. Known for playing eccentric characters in independent films, she was named "Queen of the Indies" by ''Time'' in 1997. She has received nominations for a Primetime Emmy Awa ...

as Emily *

Martin Donovan Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as '' Trust'' (1990), '' Surviving Desire'' (1991), '' Simple Men'' (1 ...

as Walter *

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 Michael Imperioli (born March 26, 1966) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Christopher Moltisanti in the HBO crime drama series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007), which earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Suppor ...

as Concerned Bar Patron * Harold Perrineau, Jr. as Man In Restroom #1 *

Robert John Burke Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor known for his roles in the early films of Hal Hartley as well as his roles in '' RoboCop 3'' (1993), ''Tombstone'' (1993), and '' Thinner'' (1996). During the 2000s Burke became ...

as Man In Restroom #2 * Liana Pai as Woman at Phone Booth *

Maria Schrader Maria Schrader (born 27 September 1965) is a German actress, screenwriter, and director. She directed the award-winning 2007 film ''Love Life'' and the 2020 Netflix miniseries '' Unorthodox'', for which she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Ou ...

as Girl In Phone Booth * José Zúñiga as Driver * Holt McCallany as The Bartender

Reception

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 11 reviews. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Film critic

James Berardinelli James Berardinelli (born September 25, 1967) is an American film critic. His reviews are mainly published on his blog ''ReelViews.'' Approved as a critic by the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, he has published two collections of reviews of movies on ...

rated the film 2.5 out of 4 stars.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

of ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' 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. 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." Alison Macor of ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogra ...

'' gave the film 3 out of 4 stars, describing it as an "intriguing ride" and as Hartley's most ambitious film. Film critic

Emanuel Levy Emanuel Levy () is a veteran, well-known American film critic and professor emeritus of sociology and film of Arizona State University. For the past 50 years, he has taught a wide variety of courses in sociology, film studies, and popular cultur ...

described it as "a semi-academic treatise about the limits of narrativity," and opined that it "offers some minor rewards."

References

External links

* * 1995 films 1995 drama films American drama films Films directed by Hal Hartley Films set in Berlin Films set in Japan Films shot in New York (state) Films shot in Tokyo 1990s German-language films American independent films 1990s Japanese-language films American avant-garde and experimental films German avant-garde and experimental films German independent films Japanese avant-garde and experimental films Japanese independent films 1990s avant-garde and experimental films 1995 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films 1990s Japanese films 1990s German films English-language independent films {{1990s-US-drama-film-stub