When Night Is Falling (1995)

An uptight and conservative woman, working on tenure as a literacy professor at a large urban university, finds herself strangely attracted to a free-spirited, liberal woman who works at a local carnival that comes to town.

Director:

Patricia Rozema

Writer:

Patricia Rozema

Stars:

Pascale Bussières, Rachael Crawford, Henry Czerny

5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Pascale Bussières	...	Camille Baker
Rachael Crawford	...	Petra Soft
Henry Czerny	...	Martin
David Fox	...	Reverend DeBoer
Don McKellar	...	Timothy
Tracy Wright	...	Tory
Clare Coulter	...	Tillie - Special Appearance
Karyne Steben	...	Trapeze Artist #1
Sarah Steben	...	Trapeze Artist #2
Jonathan Potts	...	Hang Glider #1
Tom Melissis	...	Hang Glider #2
Stuart Clow	...	Hang Glider #3
Richard W. Farrell	...	Board President (as Richard Farrell)
Fides Krucker	...	Roaring Woman
Thom Sokoloski	...	Man with Goatee

Storyline

Camille and Martin are in love and teachers at a christian college; they get the opportunity to get a better job, but they would have to marry for that. But when Camille's dog dies, she recognizes that her love for Martin is not even as big as the love for her dog. After that, Camille gets to know Petra, and Petra falls in love with Camille. They meet again, but Camille is very unsure about her feelings. When Martin is away for a weekend, Camille and Petra meet in the Circus where Petra is working as an acrobat. They spend the night together, but Martin finds out about it and is shocked. He has an argument with Camille, and she goes burying her dog in the snow, and falls asleep...

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Plot Keywords:

christian | teacher | f rated | title directed by female | interracial lesbians | 

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Taglines:

A visual treat on lust.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong sexuality and some language

Details

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 November 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

When Night Is Falling

Filming Locations:

51 Kendal Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Gross USA:

$1,194,152

Company Credits

Production Co:

Alliance Communications Corporation, Crucial Pictures, Ontario Film Development Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

Camille: She answered a kind of wordless question in me.

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits roll, Bob the dog is seen running away from camera into a snow-covered field.

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Connections

References Thelma & Louise (1991)

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Soundtracks

SYMPHONY NO.4 IN D MINOR OP. 13
Composed by Antonín Dvorák
Performed by West Bohemian National Orchestra
Conducted by Stanislav Bogunia

User Reviews

One of my favourite films

This film is tremendously human, and very beautiful. Watch it.

That's really all I want to say, but the IMDb, in its wisdom, insists on an essay.

While most lengthy comments truly are useful, considered and very detailed, they don't necessarily give you any better an idea of what a film is *like*, beyond what the blurb on a video box tells you. I saw such a blurb for this film and it dissuaded me from bothering to watch it until I'd forgotten about it.

I like it. Other things I like are people, love, closeness. I'm white, Western, middle-aged, male, bisexual, middle-class.

This is a film about people, love and closeness. It's tremendously optimistic, and it's completely devoid of the spiteful "cleverness" which seems to blight so many adult-targeted films. People rave about, say, The Godfather, which I detest, or Pulp Fiction, which I detest even more. If, like me, you find you have better things to do with your time than sit through three hours of gangster-related faux intellectualism, you might, like me, find that you very much enjoy this fabulously directed and produced feast for the sympathetic.

Nothing, but nothing truly awful happens to anyone in this film. No vengeful, base emotion is indulged in the viewer, no cheapening of pain or trivialisation of death. The characters, though, are solid and believable.

There are some delicious love scenes, and the plot is unashamedly up-beat. If you liked "Nine Songs", you might not like this. If you liked "The Dreamers" or "Holy Smoke" or "Gauzon Maudit" then you might like this, although apart from sumptuous cinematography it's not that similar to any of those.

If you're apt to be offended by a perhaps jaded (if sympathetic) view of a Christian church, or by homosexuality (lesbianism), love, women, interracial relationships or happiness then stick with pretentious films about murder or whatever. If you like people, I think it's hard to dislike this film.