This is an "Academy-Award winning" film (it actually won a STUDENT Academy Award, which some might say is like winning a gold medal at the Special Olympics). The "taboo" here involves a shy thirty-year-old photographer's assistant having an affair with a girl in her late teens. This may very well have been an American taboo in 1984, but I watch a lot of 70's European exploitation flicks and this is a VERY common theme in those (except the guy is usually also the girl's stepfather, uncle, mother's boyfriend, best friend's father etc.)
As in the European films, the girl is none-too-believable as a teenager. The actress (Nichole Harrison) is unusually attractive and looks to actually be in her early twenties. She also has kind of a weird accent considering this is supposedly set in Oregon (French Canadian maybe?--she talks kind of like Genevieve Bujold). Her character is also a little implausible. She's generally the aggressor in the relationship--and when's the last time you saw an attractive teenage girl with seemingly no close girlfriends or boys her own age sniffing around? The guy (Jay Horenstein)is a little better, not a strong actor, but he looks right for the character. He's a handsome guy, but also quite believable as a socially inept loner. He's even kind of creepy looking(it's kind of a relief he's only having a statutory affair with an older teenage girl as opposed to molesting 8-year-old boys or something). His character seems somewhat similar to the guy Carl Boehm played in "Peeping Tom", but Horenstein is not a good enough actor to make his character as sympathetic as Boem did (nor is he nearly as interesting since he doesn't stab anyone in the throat with a tripod leg).
This isn't a bad film, but it's kind of leaden and serious (the European "lolita exploitation" films are a lot more fun). On the other hand it's not well-made enough to be able to take too seriously. As for the eroticism, well, Harrison has some nice nude scenes (and, believe me, men of all ages would probably want to take this "teenager" to bed). I actually think its title kind of works against it though. People drawn in by the salacious title will probably be disappointed by the rather tame content, and those seeking a more serious film will be turned-off by it seeming to be perverted exploitation. That's probably why it remains another of my obscure discoveries in the VHS graveyard (with no DVD release anywhere in site).
