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source: Desert Hearts

This is awesome. Quite agree. I've heard and read so much about this film over the years,but never have a chance to watch the film.Lesbians always consider that this movie is the most classic one. Just look at cay's expression and motion,you would soon get that how much she loves this woman. If it needs,she would lay down her life for Vivian. Quite moving~.~ To tell the truth,this is the best lesbian-themed movie that I've ever seen.Though I've seen BETTER THAN CHOCOLATE~THE L WORD~BOUND~D.B.E.S......so forth,no one could make me lose in thought for such a long time.If the lesbian love is just as the movie pictured,what's so wrong to be a lesbian anyhow?

I too loved this film. Growing up in Barstow in the early '60's and coming of age in the early '70's in San Francisco, I can relate to the footloose approaches, the freedom to experiment, and having things turn out okay! I also liked the textures of the film, capturing the feel of the desert, the realistic attitudes of the characters, the honesty of the rawness of the emotions. It is well shot and directed. I viewed it because I was fortunate to get to spend some time with one of the stars, Andra Akers, in '83, who was a terrific woman to be around. The lovemaking scenes are probably my favorite in all of film for their tenderness, vulnerability and realism (and I'm straight!). Highly recommended!

I was assigned the difficult task of finding this film to watch for a film criticism class I am currently taking. I was FINALLY able to find it a small, non-chain, video store, and I'm so glad I was able to track it down. It's a shame this film is so difficult to locate, because it is indeed a hidden classic. Though some may be quick to dismiss it as a "lesbian movie," it is so much more! The sex scenes that earned the film a "R" rating were very tastefully, and beautifully done. If it you able to, I highly suggest you find this movie. I went back to the movie store the next day and convinced the woman to sell me her only existing copy for $15. What a steal for such a fabulous movie!

OK, I know, with a title header like that, this review better be better then the title heading right? I just couldn't resist. This is one of the first Hollywood movies to ever explore Lesbianism, so why shouldn't I be allowed to shout it out? Vivian Bell, played by Helen Shaver, arrives into 1950's Fresno for a quickie divorce, boarding with a friendly mom-like landlord and her employees of her ranch. The landlord also has a step-daughter, Cay, who Bell is curiously magnetted too, and vice versa. Soon, Vivian is surprised to find her falling for Cay's advances and are soon lovers. But there is consequences to this, after all this is 1950's Fresno we're talking about here. All the cast is great here, especially Patricia Charbonneau, who has quite a debut here, and Audra Linley, playing the landlady who I absolutely didn't recognize. (She's Mrs Roper on Three's Company fer crying out loud!) Amazingly brisk and enjoyable, I haven't seen a movie in a long time that I enjoyed without checking the time to see how much was left.

I'm a straight male and I feel the movie was done very tastefully (not a pun) and had a nice story. It wasn't supposed to be an action flick, but it does have a good story though I would have preferred to see it go a little deeper emotionally, but you have to understand that this was a "period" film and given the era the movie was set in, the emotions of the characters make perfect sense. In the 50's and especially in the rural areas, people were very conservative and though a character like Cay would've wanted to be open about her lifestyle, she certainly would've felt restrained to do so, even as free-spirited as she was. And Vivian would certainly have initially felt like a leper as the tug of societal demands and the mores of the era weighed on her. I think it was filmed and written in exactly the same light as it needed to be, no more, no less. A very realistic portrait of the era and a great job, no doubt about it, and highly recommended for viewing, but I would rate it "R" for about 5-10 minutes of sex scenes, maybe "PG-13" for content. As for the sex scenes, I can't imagine anyone not enjoying it, whatever your orientation. I did, and I'm straight as an arrow (no pun intended there either!) See how much this out-of-print video sells for on the Net and you'll see the demand this movie still creates, which is more of a barometer of its success than anything else. I can't believe that it ever went out-of-print given the demand for it. You don't see that with just any video, and as a minor collector of rare videos I can say that for a fact.

"Desert Hearts" makes me feel all warm and romantic whenever I think about it, and this I attribute mostly to director Deitch. Credit is also due to screenwriter Natalie Cooper for making sense of Jane Rule's molasses-thick quagmire of a novel, and to a super cast of supporting players. Alex McArthur is James-Dean-cute in his fresh and much welcome film debut as Cay's charmingly sensitive brother Walter. Audra Lindley is great as Cay's dear gruff mom Frances, and Andra Akers, new to me, purrs and scintillates as Silver. The soundtrack is one-of-a-kind wonderful with Patsy Cline, Ella Fitzgerald and on and on. I can't tell you how many times I saw "Desert Hearts" in a theater but for months after, a certain song (or a lone train whistle) would evoke sweet haunting memories... As for Cay and Vivian, Patricia Charbonneau and Helen Shaver portray two sympathetic and instantly familiar female characters, but I've gotta give this to Donna, too. Why? Because this is the only production in which Shaver and Charbonneau (sounds good when you say 'em together!) rise above their usual below-average efforts. (I've seen enough of their film and TV work to make an admittedly personal judgment.) My gut feeling is that Deitch created a safe environment of honesty and acceptance, and encouraged and nurtured the heck out of her allegedly straight stars. In return they offered her an intimate duet of performances that, like the sleek sexy tailfins on Cay's Buick convertible, gave us a classic.

Solid lesbian-themed film from Jane Rule's book "Desert of the Heart" has an unusual ambiance and compelling desert locales. Set in Reno in the 1950s, Audra Lindley plays a salt-of-the-earth type who runs a ranch for women preparing their divorces. Prim and proper boarder Helen Shaver quickly becomes curious over sexy, smoky hellion Patricia Charbonneau, who enters the film driving in reverse down the wrong side of the road. A balky pace and several odd directorial touches detract, but the modestly-produced picture is frequently intriguing and absorbing. The love scenes are tasteful, while Charbonneau steals much of the acting thunder with a terrific performance. Not a landmark in gay cinema, but a step in the right direction. **1/2 from ****