Noah Taylor

[Ansonm]

Anyone else think he is great? Flirting is a fantastic movie that went relatively unseen (Nichole Kidman when she was 18). Taylor continued to impress in Shine and now hes on to big big things. Didnt see almost famous. He will be Hitler in "Max" which also stars John Cusack; comes out this December.

[docraven]

Yes! I am especially interested in the Danny Embling character in THE YEAR MY VOICE BROKE (1987) and FLIRTING (1991). It was my undertstanding that director, John Duigan at one time planned to do a third film around the Danny character. Does anyone know anything about this?

It’s interesting what has become of several of those people involved in FLIRTING -- Duigan, Thandie Newton, and Nicole Kidman -- and, of course, Noah Taylor.

[Ansonm]

Danny Embling is a great character. I havent seen "The Year my Voice Broke" in such a long time. "Flirting" I watch with some regularity. It is a tremendously well crafted movie in my opinion. A third to the series would be welcome. Thandie Newton is doing fairly big pictures now right? What has Duigan been doing?

AM

PS I aspire to Embling-esque qualities. Something about his resolve; his final return to the family-bar at the end of Flirting seems like the right thing to be doing.

[docraven]

Stick to that Embling resolve. I admire the character, too.

When I saw FLIRTING for the first time, I was really impressed. Later when we went to Canberra, Australia to visit our daughter and son-in-law, they told me about THE YEAR MY VOICE BROKE -- Better than that, we drove over to Braidwood in New South Wales, where it had been filmed, and even had lunch in the “family-bar.” It was great to see all of this and then know the context when I was able to get a copy of the film on VHS. It seems to me to be a much darker film than FLIRTING, and harder to follow (for an American) because the Australian dialect was so much stronger than in the sequel. But it does illuminate more about the Danny Embling character with regards to his roots and to his adolescent discoveries about independence and sexuality.

I have only seen a few of Duigan’s other films, including ROMERO (1989), which was interesting, but a bit too didactic for my taste. He also made SIRENS (1994), which was widely distributed, and THE JOURNEY OF AUGUST KING (1995) with Thandie Newton again. FLIRTING remains my favorite.

Here is the web address for John Duigan on imbd.

http://us.imdb.com/Name?Duigan,+John

[fuzzy_nolan]

If you like Taylor, you should try to check out He Died With A Felafel In His Hand. I don't know whether it's available in the US though.

[docraven]

OK, I checked the imdb. Taylor plays Danny in He Died With A Felafel In His Hand (What on earth is a felafel?). Is this possibly a reference to the Danny Embling characters (no last name on the cast list) in The Year My Voice Broke and Flirting? According to imdb, the film has only been released in Australia (30 August 2001) and Italy (16 November 2001).

[fuzzy_nolan]

I found a short review of Felafel by Margaret Pomeranz:

"Adapted by Lowenstein from the book of the same name by John Birmingham, Felafel tracks the settlement of Danny - Noah Taylor - in three different share houses in three different cities - Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney - over a period of nine months. Various people come and go but there are some regulars. Sam, Danny's grounded best friend played by Emily Hamilton, the mad cane toad golfer Taylor played by Alex Menglet, and the constantly out-of-it Flip - Brett Stewart. Danny escapes from arrears in rent from the Brisbane house just as the gothic spiritualists arrive in the form of Anya - Romane Bohringer and moves to rain soaked Melbourne to live with a health-food nazi. It's not long before his credit card and others catch up with him ........This melange of characters is hugely enjoyable. The film is dialogue driven but it's visually inventive, cheekily wry about sex and the cities and very convincingly performed by an ensemble cast. Holding the film together is the presence of Noah Taylor whose occasionally laconic, occasionally loquacious take on life is both resigned and romantic. It's terrific to see Lowenstein at work again, this film confirms his talent as a writer/director."

Try checking out this link which also includes an interview with Taylor: [http://www.sbs.com.au/movieshow/reviews.php3?id=749]

By the way, a felafel is sort of like the Turkish equivalent of a burrito.

[Russ]

What about checking out The Nostradamus Kid. I would have thought it was clasic Taylor - if there is such a thing.