Product Description: No Description Available. Genre: Gay & Lesbian Rating: UN Release Date: 5-FEB-2008 Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com: Throughout Patricia Rozema’s third film, conservatives tangle with liberals, men with women, and heterosexuals with those of more fluid sexual persuasions. Surface tension aside, When Night Is Falling feels more personal than political. Camille (Pascale Bussières) teaches mythology at a Christian college in Toronto. Her fiancé, Martin (Henry Czerny, Clear and Present Danger), is a fellow theologian. Their superior, Reverend DeBoer (David Fox, The Saddest Music in the World), encourages them to marry. When Camille’s dog dies, she neglects to inform Martin. At a laundromat, she meets Petra (Rachael Crawford), a circus performer, who offers support. She also leaves her card, so Camille seeks her out, but when Petra makes a pass, she flees. Petra tries again, so Camille talks her into being friends, but mutual attraction proves too strong to resist. A simplistic reading suggests that the death of a pet can lead to experimentation, except Rozema (I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing) aims for a metaphorical reading rather than a literal one. Though the narrative isn't autobiographical, she also attended a Calvinist institution (the same one as writer/director Paul Schrader). It's a testament to her skill that the film feels so fresh, since the storyline echoes Lianna (the academic milieu) and anticipates Tipping the Velvet (the circus angle). It's also one of the more quotable same-sex love stories of the 1990s. As Martin tells Camille, "Maybe you can imagine more intoxicating options. That's okay--that's what imagination's for." To Rozema's heroine, however, fulfillment is for experiencing, not imagining. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Good movie I think this is a good movie played very well and as noted by other reviewers great cinematography and some humor but it has some minuspoints as well. It misses drama. With this I don't mean sentimentality but rather the absence of intensity in the plot, it is more of a sketch than a fully colored, worked out storyline and I somehow felt that the movie rushes linearly to a predictable but rather unconvincing end without enough intensity, surprises or twists. As a viewer I just did not get the feeling that the choice (between 'the love she can't forget and the desire she can't resist') for Camille was a difficult one to make. This has much to do with her boyfriend being just a flat character, who is not very present in the movie. Also the conservative surroundings are altogether not worked out very well: we just see her boyfriend and some members of the school and they just not give enough weight to the balance. And because of the lack of intensity in the conflict and plot line, I must unfortunately conclude (cynical as it may sound) that this is not about real love, but more about 'attraction', 'curiosity' or 'experiment'.
In conclusion, I can say that this movie is surely worth the watch, but it is not great or at least it did not move me enough. Actually I've watched this movie in tandem with 'Imagine Me and You' and yes that movie is the better of the two (more intense, more moving, more satisfying) and I would highly recommend that one also.
Repurchasing Old Favorite When Night Is Falling is one of my favorite lesbian films. It's beautifully filmed, with beautiful, quirky characters, electric tension between the leads, and a pure desire by the audience to see the two get together. I have owned the VHS for years, and thought it was time to invest in the DVD.
Amazing! This is my favorite lesbian movie! It's sensual and stunning. The love-making scene is absolutely captivating. I found love when I first saw this movie.
A movie to restore even the most jaded soul's faith in love. I filed my first ever amazon review today and this is my second. The first was in regard to a movie I hated so much that I felt compelled to voice an opinion. And then I watched this movie again. I needed to see a non-hollywood movie. And I was justified in my belief that this lovely little movie would once again restore my faith in the art of moviemaking. On what may be my tenth viewing, I was touched, as before, by this beautiful movie. It was wonderfully written, cast, acted and directed. Even the music was well done in that it fully complemented the acting without ever being obtrusive. I had never seen many in the cast before and marvel at how truly gifted they were. I am sure that it is labeled a lesbian movie. But the romance transcends category. And it was, quite simply, a gorgeous love story. I wonder at how many truly great little movies come out of Canada. Maybe there is a different sensibility and approach to movie making. Nice though, whatever the reason. This review intentionally told nothing about the story. I simply wanted to talk about how great the story was. And, by the way, I don't have the collector's edition so I can't comment on the extras. Kind of wish I had them to comment about.
Sweet Movie I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. I normally do not watch movies more than once, but this one proved to be an exception.