Although he has enjoyed a well-deserved revival in the Seventies, instigated by Martin Scorsese and others who recognized in Powell one of the cinema's great visual stylists, Michael Powell went into semi-retirement after Peeping Tom (now recognized, as are the other films in his enormous repertoire, as a brilliant and highly original work). Powell was (at the age of 75) recently coaxed back onto the scene by Francis Coppola, and is currently involved in a host of projects at Zoetrope Studios in Los Angeles. (See also August 4 for two rare Michael Powell/Emeric Pressburger films.)
The Age of Consent is Powell's last completed film to date, made in Australia, and featuring James Mason as an Australian artist disenchanted with his commercial success and the New York lifestyle that accompanies it. He returns to an island on the Great Barrier Reef, hoping to revitalize his work.