Review of When Night Is Falling (1995) by Craig H — 23 Nov 2007
Can't say enough good things about this film. A little known gem.
Rachael Crawford is terrific and believable as a circus performer who brings Pascale Bussieres out of her religiously repressed self and into sexual self-discovery - a slow journey that takes its time.
It's visually beautiiful and this is amplified by interesting circus sequences, autumn landscapes, and contrast with some gritty industrial lots. The impression I got was that places of great outer beauty were often emotionally so empty as to drive us to despair while the grittiest places could be infused with meaning by deliberate decision and creativity. No better metaphor for romance.
The lesbian relationship doesn't evolve out of reaction to a weak male-female relationship Pascale starts the film in. It just competes with it successfully for all the right reasons. No real polemics here - no concern with bisexuality as a political issue or whatever. It's two people who fall in love and their story isn't different from that of any other two people who do so.
That's what I love about this film. It's a romance, and only that. It doesn't need to do anything else, because it does what it does so very well. I think it's a must-see.
I agree it has timeline problems but that's part of its charm - our sense of time is mutated by real romance and that's true to life.
This review of When Night Is Falling (1995) was written by Craig H on 23 Nov 2007.
When Night Is Falling has generally received positive reviews.
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