FREEDESERT OF THE HEART EBOOK Jane Rule,Jackie Kay | 256 pages | 07 Oct 2010 | Little, Brown Book Group | 9781844086788 | English | London, United Kingdom Desert Hearts () - IMDb Desert Hearts is a American romantic drama film directed by Donna Deitch. The screenplay, written by Natalie Cooper, is an adaptation of the lesbian novel Desert of the Heart by Jane Rule. Set in Reno, Nevada in Desert of the Heart, it tells the story of a university professor awaiting a divorce who finds her true self through a relationship with another, more self-confident woman. InDesert of the Heart Bell, a year-old English professor at Columbia University in New York Citytravels to Reno to establish residency in Nevada a process that takes six weeksin order to obtain a quickie divorce. Desert of the Heart stays at a guest house ranch for women who are waiting for their divorces to be finalized. The ranch is owned by Frances Parker. Soon after her arrival in Reno, Vivian meets Cay Rivvers, a young, free-spirited sculptor. Frances was the longtime mistress of Cay's late father, Glenn, and raised Cay after her biological mother Glenn's wife abandoned her. Cay is employed as a change operator at a casino in Reno, and is ending Desert of the Heart relationship with Darrell, her controlling boss, saying that she was "attracted to his attraction" to her. When Vivian arrives, Cay takes an immediate interest Desert of the Heart her; the proper, elegant Vivian is taken aback by Cay's lack of concern for what others think of her, as Cay has had relationships with women in the past. Frances, dismayed by Cay's lesbianism but frightened by the possibility of Cay leaving her alone, becomes resentful as Cay and Vivian grow closer. After they attend an engagement party for Silver, Cay's best friend and co-worker, Cay takes a mildly inebriated Vivian to see Lake Tahoe at twilight and kisses her. Vivian returns the kiss passionately, but then becomes apprehensive and asks Cay Desert of the Heart take her home. When they return to the ranch Desert of the Heart the next morning, Frances angrily kicks Vivian out and accuses her of seducing Cay. Deeply hurt, Desert of the Heart leaves the ranch immediately as Vivian transfers to a hotel near the casino for the rest of her stay. Later, Cay arrives at Vivian's hotel room, where they initially clash but ultimately consummate their love after Cay removes Desert of the Heart clothes and invites Vivian to bed. With the impending finalization of Vivian's divorce, the two struggle with the future of their relationship. At Silver's wedding, Cay attempts to reconcile with Frances, stating that Vivian "just reached in and Desert of the Heart a string of lights around my heart," directly quoting Frances's own description of how she fell in love with Glenn. After Vivian's divorce has become finalized, she packs up and boards a train to return to New York City. Cay still refuses to commit to leaving Nevada, but boards the train at the last minute as it begins to move away, agreeing to accompany Vivian until they reach the next station. Other characters were minimized or excluded, subplots were eliminated, and the love scene was made explicit. Jane Rule described the film as "beautifully simplified". Desert of the Heart largest group of investors were lesbian and feminist women in several cities of the U. She gave fundraising parties and published a regular newsletter to keep investors informed about the project's development. Raising funds took almost four years. She eventually sold her house to cover completion costs. In New York as Art. In LA I convinced them it would be a box office hit. Deitch encountered difficulty finding actresses who would portray lesbians without reserve with many refusing to audition for the film. Deitch noticed the chemistry between Desert of the Heart and Helen Shaver immediately. Limited funds often necessitated filming two scenes in one day, with little room for retakes. Renting space in a real casino was out of the question and a dressed set in a room of an abandoned hotel served as the gambling casino in the film. The contract with Charbonneau and Shaver obligated them to perform the sex scene in the hotel room without body doubles and to be nude on camera from the waist down. The scene was shot on the second-to-last day of filming, with cinematographer Robert Elswit and a boom operator as the only crew members present. In a Globe and Mail interview, Shaver said that she was being considered for a role in Joshua Then and Nowwhich would have promoted her career much farther than Desert Hearts. Donna Deitch assured her over the phone that she was right for her movie and told her she Desert of the Heart to hang up the phone until she got an answer. After five minutes, Shaver accepted the role. I had always wanted to carry a movie. Now, if I never make another one, I've done this. For the first time, I feel I've done a complete work on film. Desert Hearts was Patricia Charbonneau's film debut. I wanted to do something that at least people would talk about. Even if they hated it, they'd be talking about it. The hard part was just walking out on the set naked and just standing there. Donna Deitch was surprised to learn 20 years Desert of the Heart the film's release that Helen Shaver [f] and Patricia Charbonneau were told by their friends and agents that the film would ruin their careers. In AprilDonna Deitch announced that she was fundraising to produce a sequel to Desert of the Heart Heartsto be set in New York City during the women's liberation movement. It was wide released in the U. The reaction by film critics was mixed. In his scathing review for The New York TimesVincent Canby criticized the screenplay as "unimaginative", described its characters as having "so little life", and the film as lacking a "voice or style of its own", but did add that it "is so earnest and sincere that it deserves an A for deportment". In the review for The Body PoliticEd Jackson said the screenplay was "spiked with hilarious one-liners", described the love scene as "a luminous study in gentle eroticism, almost painfully intimate", and the film as "a treat that is both soft-centred and sugar-coated", "handsome, well- constructed", and "much more dense than the simple propaganda that it might at first resemble. Deitch's film is a passionate, beautifully controlled drama about making choices and exercising the heart: in a word, about living. In his critical study about homosexuality in the movies, The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Moviesfilm historian Vito Russo wrote: " Desert Hearts is a love story that recreates with perceptiveness and tenderness what it Desert of the Heart have been like for two women of different generations and backgrounds to fall in love in the Fifties Deitch's refusal to feature the straight world's reaction to lesbianism as the focus of her film made all the difference in the way the relationship between the women was perceived by audiences. This is the point at which many heterosexual critics disqualify themselves from perceptively reviewing gay films. With the passage of time, Desert Hearts has gained recognition for its quality and impact on lesbian cinema. InThe Sydney Morning Herald declared, "Donna Deitch's Desert Hearts is widely regarded as one of the best and most significant mainstream fiction Desert of the Heart about lesbians. The Lesbian Film Guide states: "It is no exaggeration to say that in Desert Hearts was the film many lesbians had waited for all their lives. For the first time in cinema history here was a movie which was an unashamedly romantic lesbian love story, aimed primarily at a lesbian audience. Helen Shaver revealed that screen legend Greta Garbo was so impressed with her performance in the film that they attempted to meet but due to Garbo's poor health instead talked over the phone. Lesbian literary critic Camille Paglia praised the film for its "riveting performances", having seen it 11 times in theaters. She claimed that Patricia Charbonneau's "magic" came from hormonal glow, as she had found out she was pregnant before shooting began. Actress Jane Lynch said she had never "seen in celluloid such real passion and desire between two women" and had watched the video "over 50 times". Prince, Desert of the Heart and executive director of North Jersey Pride, wrote in that Desert Hearts "was refreshingly different, not only because the characters weren't psychotic, but also because it didn't end in depressing, unrequited love For a coming-out movie, it's as good as it gets. In an assessment of lesbian genre films since the s, Slate said the film was "immensely popular with lesbian audiences" and earned " cult classic status Ruby Richconversations between Donna Deitch and film crew plus Jane Lynch, and the audio commentary by Deitch included in the release by Wolfe Video. Deitch asked the Goldwyn Company to extend the rights to the music to release a soundtrack on Desert of the Heart or compact cassettebut the studio declined. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This article is about the film Desert Hearts. For the Desert of the Heart group, see Desert Hearts band. Theatrical release poster. Desert Hearts Productions [1]. Release date. Running time. Wayne WalkerWebb Pierce. Richard Rodgers Desert of the Heart, Lorenz Hart.