Desert Hearts (Two-Disc Vintage Collection)

Desert Hearts (Two-Disc Vintage Collection)
by Donna Deitch

Desert Hearts (Two-Disc Vintage Collection)
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DVD Cover Information

Actor: Andra Akers, Dean Butler, Denise Crosby, Katie La Bourdette, Patricia Charbonneau
Director: Donna Deitch
Brand: WOLFE VIDEO
Cinematographer: Robert Elswit
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Running Time: 94 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-06-05
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Wolfe Video

Movie Reviews of Desert Hearts (Two-Disc Vintage Collection)

Movie Review: Old fashioned but relevant
Summary: 5 Stars

The movie was a bit melodramatic but very effective in making it's point. As a woman who was happily married for 27 of 29 years and only discovered my "true" sexuality at almost 50yrs old, I can relate to the hesitancy of pursing this type of relationship. Based on my experience, I found it depicted a fairly realistic view of a female to female relationship.

Summary of Desert Hearts (Two-Disc Vintage Collection)

When college professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) arrives in Reno in 1959 to get a quickie divorce, the last thing on her mind is romance. A prim intellectual, crippled by a sterile marriage ("We're a professional couple") and hiding behind her education, she moves into a ranch belonging to Frances Parker (Audra Lindley) and tries to keep to herself. But Parker's beautiful, sassy tomboy of a stepdaughter proves to be quite a distraction, and a love affair slowly blossoms. Cay (Patricia Charbonneau) refuses to be bound by convention or by expectations of how a nice girl should behave, and her devil-may-care attitude both attracts and terrifies the nervous professor.

Shaver is terrific as Vivian, and the slow thawing of her character is beautifully paced--you can feel the tension break when she finally lets down her guard. Another strong performance comes from Audra Lindley as Frances. She's a tough old bird with a drinking problem, but Lindley keeps the character from descending into stereotype, and she gives full rein to the tragic side of this lonely woman, especially as she struggles with her reaction to the developing relationship between Cay and Vivian.

There are scenes in Desert Hearts that would be painfully clich?d if they appeared in a heterosexual romance, and even here they only just escape that fate--relying a little too much on significant glances and lines that just don't sound like real conversation. Nevertheless, first-time director Deitch breathes new life into a standard straight-arrow-meets-free-spirit plot, and steadfastly refuses to turn this love story into an "issues movie." Add to that a strong feel for the period and a soundtrack filled with the likes of Patsy Cline and Gene Vincent, and the result is a warm, well-acted film that packs a real emotional punch. --Simon Leake


At 35 years of age literature professor Vivian Bell heads out to Reno for a quickie divorce. But when she gets to Nevada where she has to wait until her papers come through a whole new world opens up to Vivian when avowed lesbian Cay Rivers openly begins to seduce her. Vivian at first resists Cay's overtures but as time goes on she is forced to admit her attraction.But as Vivian's days in Nevada come to a close she faces a quandary: can she actually bring this randy cowgirl into her stodgy intellectually elite New York life? Or will she have to give up the best love she's ever experienced?Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 754703762832 Manufacturer No: WOL4436D

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