Age of Consent (1969), directed by Michael Powell.
After finding commercial success in America, a burned out artist (James Mason) returns home to Australia. After recharging his sexual batteries with an old girlfriend for a week ("I'm like the camel in regards to sex") he moves to a tiny shack on a isolated island in the Great Barrier Reef with just his hyper-smart dog for company. Object: solitude and rest.
He meets a wild young woman (Helen Mirren) who has never known a razor or underwear. She sells him shellfish and pilfered chickens, saving money so she can escape the island and her gin-soaked granny. He suggests she earn a little cash by modeling for him; she agrees and enjoys it.
This is not about romance for him, but about coming alive again and rediscovering color and beauty. She has her own ideas.
Serpents in their garden: her crazed granny and his mooching old friend who drops in uninvited.
Powell's career was knocked off track with Peeping Tom (1960) and he never recovered. This one has some lovely scenery but is awkwardly paced and slack in energy. The pre-island material is unnecessary. The dubbing in some scenes sounds artificial.
There is no denying the obvious standout feature: lovely Helen Mirren at age 24, her first prominent film role and posing in the buff. She did her own diving, no body double. I wanted to yell "Look out for that coral!" when she snorkels through the undersea terrain.
Notes:
James Mason and Michael Powell co-produced.
From a novel by Norman Lindsay, prolific mid-20th century painter of voluptuous nudes, many of whom look remarkably like Helen Mirren. His life inspired another artists-and-models film: Sirens (1994) with Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald and Sam Neill.
Mirren did other nudity early in her career; see Ken Russell's Savage Messiah (1972). She says she was nervous but she always seemed relaxed and comfortable in her skin.
Mason met his future wife in their sex scene.
Columbia did not like the score and the film was distributed with different music. The original score is restored for home video.
Powell wanted to do The Tempest but could not get it together. You can see some parallels with this film, matching up the characters.
Likewise, the wild young woman is prefigured in his Gone to Earth (1950) with Jennifer Jones.
Available on Blu-ray from Mill Creek. Cactus Flower (1969) is on the same disc.
Bare bones Blu-ray without the subtitles or commentary track found on the old DVD. Downloadable text subtitles are available on the net.