Desert Hearts (1986)

"...herladed a new wave of American gay and lesbian independent films.  Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.com
"Truly a landmark film in its positive and very realistic depiction...warm, expansive performances.  Find-A-Video
"A smooth and sensitive film that convincingly circles around the many different kinds of love...  Frederic & Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality & Practice
"Daring, erotic, touching.  Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
"Startlingly intimate and unabashedly erotic.  The Hollywood Reporter

Editor's Note An east coast English professor travels to Reno intent on dissolving her unfulfilling 12-year marriage and meets up with a fiery yet sensitive lesbian casino worker who forces her to confront emotions she hasn't experienced in years.

	Andra Ankers
	Audra Lindley
	Helen Shaver
	Patricia Charbonneau
	Carol Jefferies, et. al. - Producer
	David Brisbin - Art Director
	Donna Deitch - Director
	Jane Rule - Based On Novel By
	Jeannine Claudia Oppewall - Production Designer
	Natalie Cooper - Screenplay
	Robert Elswit - Cinematographer
	Robert Estrin - Editor

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? Variety
"...[Shaver] does a commendable job....Deitch offers some sound film making..." 08/21/1985

Movie House Commentary 8 of 10
Desert Hearts is a movie that is well known among devotees of lesbian movies, whatever their motivations. It has enough reality and romance for those who watch for the story, and it has enough nudity for those guys who just like to see women touching each other. It probably ranks with "Personal Best" as the two most famous and influential major movies about lesbians...Frankly, it isn't that good a movie, although I like some things about it. The directing style follows a deliberately picaresque narrative...One thing the two women did quite well was the romance. Their tentative first kiss in the rain and their hesitant love scene were played with a certain clumsy sincerity, played so effectively that those two scenes managed to carry the entire movie, at least as far as it could be carried. I give the film a lot of credit for handling the romance in a natural and sensitive way.

Chicago Sun-Times 7 of 10
The movie stars Helen Shaver, an underrated Canadian actress of cool elegance, as Vivian, a professor at Columbia University in New York who travels by train to Reno to get a divorce. Patricia Charbonneau plays Cay, the direct, unabashed woman who falls in love with her at first sight. The third woman in the story is Frances (Audra Lindley), the no-nonsense older woman who runs the guest ranch where would-be divorcees wait out their Nevada residency requirements..."Desert Hearts" was made on a small budget, and this is one film where it didn't help to cut corners. (I have a notion they would have done some scenes over if they'd had the time and money.) The movie makes no large statement; it is not a philosophical exploration of lesbianism, just the story of two women and their attraction. It's not a great movie, but it works on its own terms. - Roger Ebert