Desert Hearts

[gottalovewillow]

I wasn't sure if this was the right place to post this or even if a thread already existed, but here it is anyway. I was wondering if anybody has seen the movie Desert Hearts and if so, what your opinion was on it. It's a movie about a woman who divorces her husband to be "honest" with herself. She goes out to nevada to stay on a ranch while her divorce is in process. While there, she meets and falls in love with a woman 10 years younger than herself. It deals with her acceptance of herself and who she is. There is a love scene in the movie that I thought was very tastfully done. Let me know what yall think.



Julie

Buffy: Maybe it's time to start a new tradition. Birthdays without boyfriends. It could be just as much fun.



Willow: Preaching to the choir here, baby.

Edited by: Warduke at: 11/3/04 8:16 am

[Gatito Grande]

You're far from alone, gottalove (my tribute to Desert Hearts is on the "love, Love, LOVE this movie" thread You'll have to scroll a ways back to find it, though)



GG I came out to myself---as woman-lovin' ---about an hour after seeing this movie for the first time (Sacramento's famous "Tower Theater" movie-palace, June 1986) Out

[urnofosiris]

You could repost yourself here Gatito, this movie was overdue for a thread of it´s own.

[Gatito Grande]

Is that doctor's orders, Garfield? {will scroll through: good thing I don't have a life, eh?}



GG Actually, looking forward to re-living DH love, as an alternative to politics, politics, politics! Out



Wow: it's really good that I don't have a life , because the post was actually on the "TV/Movie" thread, and took me forever to find!



For your edification and enjoyment (Orig. posted 4/7/03) :



Sweet, sweet memory lane: Desert Hearts



Indulge GG the Old Fart as I swoon anew over a film that means so much to me: Desert Hearts. (Thanks to free premium channels this past weekend, I was finally able to tape it---only my 3rd viewing ever!)



Join me on a journey down the highways and biways of yesteryear, to the halcyon Summer of 1986. I was living at home, post-college, w/ the 'rents, an experience best illustrated (but not in a good way). For several years I had been having these, um, "inklings", that perhaps I was not of the straights. See, there had been this one girl, and uh, then another . . . (no, no, simply of the fantasy-type: GG was, and more's the pity is, of the highly-repressed).



Anyway, I was One Confused Camper. So, around June, I managed to get out of the family house . . . and into a neighbor's, house-sitting. In a situation of comparative fancy-freedom, what flick I-had-vaguely-though-intriguingly-heard-about should come to Sacramento's famous Tower Theater (close-by the original Tower Records, FYI) than one dyke-directed-delight by the name of Desert Hearts?



Heh. Me and my not-so-trusty first car (a '74 Vega called "Yellow Bird" by its original owner) skeedaddled downtown in search of . . . something. Did I already know? Did my grrl-lovin' heart seek confirmation? Or just jollies? Nearly seventeen years later, I still can't say. All I knows is, I got Hot. Bothered. A lingering Patricia Charbonneau fixation. Most importantly, I came home, lay down on the leather (why do I remember this? ) couch at my neighbor's house, and smiled the smile of The Enlightened. (Siddhartha under the boddhi tree had nowhere near the, uh, p*ssy-eating grin! )



So, after all of the reminiscing, what about the movie? (Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play? ) After that first viewing, I didn't see it again for about 5-6 years, when it was shown at my seminary (Union in New York City, people!) and I saw it, after much talking it up, w/ my future ex-husband (don't ask!). W/ the bloom off the rose, I saw the flick mainly for its faults:remembered, like its extreme episodic-ness (Scene, Fade-to-black; Scene, Fade-to-black . . .), also, the striking silence of the love-scene, in a flick so dependent on period-music. And not remembered: God, Helen Shaver smoked like a chimney throughout (Big Turn-Off to GG). Lots of clunky dialogue. And Audra Lindley didn't just chew scenery, I think she blew bubbles w/ it!



Nevertheless . . . After another ten years, being able to watch it alone and appreciate as the Romantic Sap I am, it's still a wonderful movie. The above-mentioned period-music (aka "oldies" even to me!) is wonderful: Break my heart, Patsy! And I'd forgotten how nice the cinematography is (wonderful desert/mountain/city lights and shadows, in Reno and the Sierras, scenery I'm very familiar with). Shaver and Charbonneau give excellent performances individually, and together, they hit just the right note of attraction and 1950's repression (esp. on behalf of Shaver's character, Professor Vivian).



"Yeah, GG, but what about that love scene? Hot or not?" Though I still find the silence a bit strange, and there's one awkward cut (the move between vertical and horizontal---hey, that's my favorite part! ), in my humble opinion it's f*ckin' fantastic, in 1986 or any other year. The chemistry, eroticism, and oh, let's just say it, will we? arousal are palpable: if neither Shaver or Charbonneau had ever "been with" a woman before (I really have no idea, but I think they were both supposedly straight) they did an amazing job of faking it!



Lastly, kudos upon kudos to the openly-lesbian director, Donna Deitch (I know she directed the cliche-orific Women of Brewster Place---anything else?). This women set the standard for "dyke drama" by which all subsequent lesbian-themed movies will be judged. Most important to me, personally, was that she told a story by which I could (want to) see my own life, and face it w/ determination and, well, excitement! Bravissima and Gracias, Amiga!



GG Here's to us Kittens, and all our sweet movie memories! Out



ETA, Kibbles and bits: who should be barking up the WRONG tree (Patricia Charbonneaus' "Cay") than Buffy's pop Hank Summers?! (i.e. actor Dean Butler) Also, check out Denise Crosby in a tiny distinctly non-"Tasha Yar" (be still my heart!) role of a bitchy guest-rancher.

Edited by: Gatito Grande at: 11/4/04 4:00 pm

[Big Dummy]

Had to weigh in on this. This was one of my first lesbia movies as well. Saw it at the tender age of 16. It was my second movie (luckily, since The Fox was the first. Yeck! ).



Two most memorable scenes for me:



The kiss scene in the car. Vivian's (Helen Shaver) struggle with not wanting to react to the big wet one Cay was planting on her, but being unable too because, well, it was so damned hot! There's one little bit where her hand clenches Cay's shoulder...



Vivian in a chair. Cay on the floor. Let your mind do the rest. Not detailed or anything, but man, it was just the first time that I had seen something like that portrayed.



Over all, it was the passion. The love scenes and scenes when they were together were so tightly wound with it, imo. I even had to write a song about the movie, it affected me so much.



I agree with GG, though, in being able to see some of the movie's flaws many years later. Doesn't take away from the special place it has in my heart, but it was episodic with some really poorly acted scenes by most of the supporting cast. Although I really loved Cay's friend and her husband...damn, what was her name? Does quick IMDB search...Silver! Loved Silver!



Now I have to go out and buy it.

Edited by: Warduke at: 11/6/04 8:51 am

[Gatito Grande]

No, no, no, BD! It was Cay in the chair ("Having Wonderful Time" ) and Vivian on/rising from the floor! (Turn-about is fairplay, what w/ Cay's "gift" in the bed, several . . . hours earlier! ) You gotta give it (as it were ) to our repressed NY English professor: girlfriend's a fast learner!



GG When Vivian is making her last-gasp-effort-to-avoid-destiny in the hotel room? And then the camera suddenly (reflecting Viv's POV) extends its pan around the corner to the bed . . . where Cay is displaying her, uh, "treasure chest"? I can still remember how my pulse was POUNDING in my ears back in that darkened theater in '86! (You never forget your First Time ) Out



And the silence of the love scene, was broken up only by one sound (I mean, other than those noises ): church bells. Whenever I hear/think of distant chuch bells, I think of Cay's two certain body parts, lining up---points on points!---w/ Viv's two certain body parts. Boob-boob-de-deux!

[Big Dummy]

See there, missing a little detail like that is exactly why I need to go back out and get it. Thank goodness for Netflix!

[xita]

Not my first lesbian movie, unfortunately Personal Best takes the title, but this one is by far the best. I think it's still up there , even though we have newer movies out there. Even though this was low budget, Deitch did not skim on music or acting. Sometimes the acting in "lesbian" movies could be a whole lot better. I'd love to see some sequel to this, gosh I so would. Of course I think nowadays Helen is looking better than Patricia, younger even.

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"Trust is a risk masquerading as a promise."

[sam7777]

Xita: Like you my first movie was unhappily "Personal Best".



I also thought the acting was great and it's really a shame that the director had such a hard time making the film. It's a nice slice of life of a woman's discovering her sexulatiy and with some great desert locations. This was made in the 80's and you really don't see many movies like this nowadays and I really can't think of an example for the new millenium.



I caught "Desert Hearts" for the first time recently uncut and unreformatted to fit the screen on the SUndance or IFC channel. They are also running "Fire" which I recorded but haven't watched yet. if you get digital cable, it's worth getting the tier with those two channels. They have a very liberal bent in their documentaries and often show stuff with Margaret Cho or Michael Moore. Great stuff.

_____________________

I still see dead lesbian cliches

[ElDonia]

This one does bring back memories, doesn't it? I'm of the belief that this is one of few movies that surpass the books they are based on, but that might not be fair because I thought Silver was over-the-top crude in the book and because the chemistry between the actresses was so good. And I went to the movie with my first girlfriend...

[wiccie]

I guess I'm one of the lucky 80's teens who found "Desert Hearts" on video, and *then* rented "Personal Blech".



Although, there was some confusion in that I had heard that there was some lesbo-rific movie with "Desert" in the title, and I initially rented "Desert Bloom". I sat through the first half of "Desert Bloom" thinking "Oh, my God, I hope my mom doesn't come home from work early and catch me watching this!", then in the second half of the film - as it became apparent that the movie had nothing to do with lesbians and everything to do with early nuclear testing in the American Southwest and the consequences to military kids - I thought "Goddamit! I can't masturbate to this!".



Soon, however I found "Desert Hearts", rented it about once a week until the teen video clerk suggested I buy their copy for $10 - which I did.



Thus began a Charbonneau/Shaver obsession that resulted in watching many, many baaaad movies, like "Shakedown".



Oh, and this line has been driving me crazy for 20 years!

When Cay is in the chair and Vivian comes up "from below" , Cay says "There goes the hot water." - WTF does that mean? Anyone?

Edited by: wiccie at: 11/10/04 9:34 am

[Culzean]

"Oh, and this line has been driving me crazy for 20 years!

When Cay is in the chair and Vivian comes up "from below" , Cay says "There goes the hot water." - WTF does that mean? Anyone?"



It's been awhile since I've seen this film so I could be wrong - but I seem to recall the sound of a shower or of a bathtub being filled in the background. I think they had intended to bathe but got distracted.

[Gatito Grande]

. . . as in limited capacity hot waterheater, wiccie (hard to believe in a Reno hotelroom, FWIW ).



GG "Dammit, I can't masturbate to this! Out



I only saw Personal Best last year. Now I know it was supposed to be disappointing (from a f/f POV), but I still felt like, did I miss something? Waitaminnit: they're already together, and now they're breaking up?



Speaking of early f/f flicks, anybody remember the TV movie My Two Loves (w/ Mariette Hartley and Diana Rigg, c. 1986)? That's one I watched hoping the 'rents wouldn't ask!

[xita]

Now honestly, that was my first lesbian movie but I wouldn't call it really lesbian, even though Rita Mae Brown worked on that movie. I am willing to trade anyone for a copy of that movie. I've been looking for it for a long time, "My Two Loves" was part of the reason I clued into my sexuality at the age of 12. I was cheering for the woman! It made me think about a lot of things.

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"Trust is a risk masquerading as a promise."