The girl's mother was British; her stepmother is African, like her father, who is a diplomat. Uganda is newly independent and is approaching the agony of the Idi Amin years. Events far away in Africa will decide whether the boy and girl will be able to carry on a normal teenage flirtation, or whether she will be swept away by the tide of history. Meanwhile, their eyes wide open, with joy and solemnity, they try to honor their love.

The movie is not about "movie teenagers," those unhappy creatures whose interests are limited and whose values are piggish.

Most movies have no idea how thoughtful and responsible many teenagers are - how seriously they take their lives, how carefully they agonize over personal decisions. Only a few recent films, like "Say Anything" and "The Man in the Moon," have given their characters the freedom that "Flirting" grants - for kids to grow up by trying to make the right choices.

In "Flirting," every scene serves a purpose. We go to classrooms and dormitories, to Parents' Day and sporting events, and we see the wit and daring with which Thandiwe and Danny arrange to meet under the eyes of their teachers. We also get a sense of the schools; the boys' school, where one of the teachers is too fond of caning, and another too fond of building model airplanes, and the girls' academy, where one of the older girls (Nicole Kidman) is responsible for Thandiwe, but secretly admires her willingness to break the rules.

Scene after scene is written with delicacy and wit - for example, a scene in which the young lovers' parents meet. Neither set of parents knows their child is dating at all; the way they all behave in this social setting, in a time and place where interracial dating raises eyebrows, is written with subtlety and tact. The adult actors bring a kind of awkward grace to the scene that is somehow very moving. The little non-conversation between Danny's parents, after they are alone again, is priceless.

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