This American indie curio from 1985 is a bracing Lesbian romance, a trailblazer of the controversial genre and an accomplished feature-length doesn't make concessions with sensationalism of the subject matter and dramatise of the homosexual sub-culture.
Set in 1959, Vivian Bell (Shaver), a 35-year-old uptight literature professor from NYC arrives to Reno, Nevada to obtain a quick divorce. She stays in a ranch house hosted by Frances Parker (Lindley) and meets Cay Rivvers (Charbonneau), the daughter of Glenn, Frances' significant other who died years ago, so biologically Cay and Frances are not related, but Frances is like a surrogate mother to her and deems her as the last remnant of Glenn. Cay is a free-spirited sculptor, a decade younger than Vivian and works in the local casino, she is pretty frank about her sexuality and defies all the unkindness for her lifestyle, although it creates discord with Frances.
A mutual attraction between Vivian and Cay is germinating secretly, which slowly awakes Vivian's dormant homosexuality, yet she is a woman shackled by orders and social conventions, that's why the new sensation is equally exciting and scary for her, she has to battle against her rational sense to even accept their passionate first kiss after a night alone with Cay al fresco, when she finally opens up herself unconditionally, their passion is inextinguishable. Shaver instils a considerably nuanced showcase of Vivian's dilemma, while Charbonneau strikes gold in bringing Cay to life for her bravery and honesty, as well as her irresistible vitality, the steamy sex scenes are rendered with even-handedness, neither too coy nor a blatant lesbian pornography to suffice straight men's fantasy, Vivian's frisson of pleasure is vented through a series of creditable niceties, quite an achievement if we take the year of its making into account.
One might find it is quite pleasing that a jaundiced eye has never become prominent in the plot, no homophobic straight hillbillies, everyone is pretty cool with regard to Cay's unconventional conducts, and being a gorgeous beauty like her, men can easily one-sidedly mad about her, which could have served as a fertile ground of jealousy and violence, fortunately it is not being tapped into the script, which unerringly homes in on Vivian and Cay's romantic bonding, only Andra Lindley's Frances, is the ostensible exemplar of malice, yet whose growing hostility towards Vivian is more originated from her own selfish possession of Cay than any other objective arguments.
So, in a nutshell, DESERT HEARTS deserves a re-discovery 3 decades after its release, it is tender, heartfelt, sincere, in spite of telling a conventional same-sex love story with every predictable twist and turn, this low budget labour-of-love of Donna Deitch even manages to pull off an entirely satisfactory coda which defies to be a stereotyped Hollywood ending and leaves a sweet taste in our imaginations.
Set in 1959, Vivian Bell (Shaver), a 35-year-old uptight literature professor from NYC arrives to Reno, Nevada to obtain a quick divorce. She stays in a ranch house hosted by Frances Parker (Lindley) and meets Cay Rivvers (Charbonneau), the daughter of Glenn, Frances' significant other who died years ago, so biologically Cay and Frances are not related, but Frances is like a surrogate mother to her and deems her as the last remnant of Glenn. Cay is a free-spirited sculptor, a decade younger than Vivian and works in the local casino, she is pretty frank about her sexuality and defies all the unkindness for her lifestyle, although it creates discord with Frances.
A mutual attraction between Vivian and Cay is germinating secretly, which slowly awakes Vivian's dormant homosexuality, yet she is a woman shackled by orders and social conventions, that's why the new sensation is equally exciting and scary for her, she has to battle against her rational sense to even accept their passionate first kiss after a night alone with Cay al fresco, when she finally opens up herself unconditionally, their passion is inextinguishable. Shaver instils a considerably nuanced showcase of Vivian's dilemma, while Charbonneau strikes gold in bringing Cay to life for her bravery and honesty, as well as her irresistible vitality, the steamy sex scenes are rendered with even-handedness, neither too coy nor a blatant lesbian pornography to suffice straight men's fantasy, Vivian's frisson of pleasure is vented through a series of creditable niceties, quite an achievement if we take the year of its making into account.
One might find it is quite pleasing that a jaundiced eye has never become prominent in the plot, no homophobic straight hillbillies, everyone is pretty cool with regard to Cay's unconventional conducts, and being a gorgeous beauty like her, men can easily one-sidedly mad about her, which could have served as a fertile ground of jealousy and violence, fortunately it is not being tapped into the script, which unerringly homes in on Vivian and Cay's romantic bonding, only Andra Lindley's Frances, is the ostensible exemplar of malice, yet whose growing hostility towards Vivian is more originated from her own selfish possession of Cay than any other objective arguments.
So, in a nutshell, DESERT HEARTS deserves a re-discovery 3 decades after its release, it is tender, heartfelt, sincere, in spite of telling a conventional same-sex love story with every predictable twist and turn, this low budget labour-of-love of Donna Deitch even manages to pull off an entirely satisfactory coda which defies to be a stereotyped Hollywood ending and leaves a sweet taste in our imaginations.