This film marks the first starring role for Helen Mirren and she appears in quite a few tasteful nude scenes. Because of this, it's certainly not a film for the prudish!James Mason plays Bradley, an aging artist who feels that his work has stagnated. So, on a whim, he decides to relocate from Sydney to the wilds of Queensland in Northeast Australia. There, he lives in a hut and has a simple but lovely life along the beach. There he meets a gorgeous young lady, Cora (Mirren) and she stimulates his creative drive...and he begins making art that he is once again proud of and wants to make more. The problem is that she is very young and he is an older man...and her disgusting grandmother thinks that there's some hanky panky going on...which there isn't...at least for now!This is a slow but enjoyable film. What I appreciated is that while this is by no means a comedy, little comedic touches were used here and there. I also appreciate how different the film is. Although Mason ALSO starred in "Lolita", the tone and style of the two films are like night and day...and I prefer "Age of Consent".

Not for the first time and probably not the last I find myself watching a different film from the majority who have posted comments here. Apparently this was Michael Powell's last film, I have no idea what prevented him making more movies but if it wasn't natural causes that ended his career this turkey would have accomplished it in spades. It's difficult to ascertain what audience it is targeting beside pubescent schoolboys the world over who would derive as much titillation from the likes of Naked, As Nature Intended. Mason, normally a fine actor, walks through it, rather strange as he also co-produced, whilst Jack McGowran is a joke and Helen Mirren shows no sign of the fine actress she was to become.

Diane and I watched this delightful film last night without knowing virtually anything about it except who the two principal actors were. From reading many of the comments by other viewers it becomes apparent that people disliked the film, because of its general plot and because they thought the characters were over-drawn and that the script was a minimal. Being a very simple fellow, I delighted in the comic aspects of the grandmother and the "friend" who comes to stay and the "love" interest that results from his meeting with a long time resident. Of course the characters were over-drawn but they served (at least to me) to set up a modest Abbot and Costello sort of dynamic between the seriousness of the two main players.Every comment seems to have some bearing on Helen's nude beauty and that is certainly true; with her swimming nude against a backdrop of the underwater scenes of the Great Barrier Reef alone is worth the trouble to track down a copy. She and Mason play their roles seamlessly against a background of quite comical characters that provide a, excuse the pun, canvas of improbability.

POSSIBLE SPOILERS If I understand correctly, "Age of Consent" was Helen Mirren's first starring vehicle. She was already a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and, at 23, a real beauty. Playing opposite James Mason, then 60, Mirren acts the part of Cora, who wants to escape the Great Barrier Reef where she lives with her drunken and abusive grandmother, to become a hairdresser in Brisbane. Mason, as Bradley Morahan, a well-known and financially successful painter, comes to the reef from New York, seeking to restore his spirit in isolation. Disappointed to find others on the spit of land where he takes up residence, Morahan soon discovers Cora as a supplier of food. Shortly, he takes to sketching her and pays her to pose. Eventually, Morahan acquires everything needs to paint her. Mostly, she models in the nude, and she is often shown swimming naked under water. With exception of her pubic area, every part of her body is on display at one time or another, and an absolutely gorgeous body it is. Unfortunately, Mirren's nudity is displayed in the service of a story that is not very interesting and not very well told. Mason was a fine actor and is persuasive in his role. Michael Powell may have been excellent director, but his reputation was surely not built on the basis of this film. "The Age of Consent" refers to Cora's age, which is supposed to be 17 therefore making her sexually unavailable legally. Morahan displays no interest in having sex with Cora and, until the very end of the film, she shows no sign of wanting to have sex with him. But the age restriction helps to explain why grandma, normally very disagreeable, goes into an overdrive of sputtering rage at the interaction between Cora and Morahan. Mirren is slightly unconvincing physically at a 17 year old. However, she was already an accomplished actress when this film was made and her bearing and manner perfectly mirror the age of her character. I found this film interesting ONLY because it displays Mirren -- ALL of her -- at the beginning of a distinguished career. Mason, a fine actor, made many, many better movies.