Friday Movie Review – Lesbian Drama – When Night Is Falling

It’s been a long week. I had actually planned a yard sale for today and tomorrow to get rid of some unwanted items. These were primarily things I collected for resale on eBay that just never panned out for listing and other miscellaneous items that were mostly acquired in the act of acquiring the eBay items (storage totes, shelving units, crates, etc). Things didn’t quite go as planned and I’ll be putting the sale off until next week.

Instead, I’m planning a day of eBay listing today, followed by a night watching movies since my wife is working a long shift and staying at the farm tonight and since “The Boy” is with his dad this weekend. It’ll be just me and the dogs (a 5 year old male pug and a 10+ year old female black lab). The dogs and I like all sorts of movies, or at least the lab and I do – the pug snores through everything but kitchen sounds – but I think tonight, rather than channel surfing for one that looks good (yes, I already did check the listings), we’ll pull a favorite out of the collection. I’m thinking we’ll watch the lesbian drama, “When Night is Falling”.

When Night Is Falling is directed by Patricia Rozema. It stars Henry Czerny in the role of Martin, a minister and fiance to Camille who is played by the beautiful Pascale Bussieres. Camille teaches at New Faith College and Henry is a resident theologian. Theirs is a very straight traditional heterosexual relationship that, they both expect will lead to marriage especially since they are being encouraged to marry by their superiors at the school (long story). Their lives are shot amid the halls of academia but with the startling backdrop of Canada (especially in winter) adding beauty.

All is well between Henry and Camille until Camille’s dog dies. Camille, during a visit to the laundromat to perform the mundane task of doing laundry, meets Petra, a circus performer played by Rachael Crawford, who gives her some emotional support over her grief for her lost pet. Petra is enchanted right away an pulls a prank that guarantees her the opportunity to see Camille again.

Camille resists the advances of the lesbian Petra but finds she really is attracted to her and that she can’t resist the pull of the colorful, quirky performer. They begin an intense relationship that takes Camille far from the halls of both academia and the church and away from the ego crushed Henry.

This movie is romantic, dramatic and funny, all in various moments. The cinematography and the acting work together to make it excellent. And yes, there is sex of both the hetero type (very necessary to the story) and the lesbian type (not at all sensationalized). Not to be missed – and probably to be replayed many times – is the circus trapeze scene that plays during a certain portion of the movie…

When Night Is Falling