Donna Deitch 

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |

Desert Hearts (1985, 93 min, US)

There are scenes in Desert Hearts that would be painfully clichéd if they appeared in a heterosexual romance, and even here they only just escape that fate--relying a little too much on significant glances and lines that just don't sound like real conversation. Nevertheless, first-time director Deitch breathes new life into a standard straight-arrow-meets-free-spirit plot, and steadfastly refuses to turn this love story into an "issues movie." Add to that a strong feel for the period and a soundtrack filled with the likes of Patsy Cline and Gene Vincent, and the result is a warm, well-acted film that packs a real emotional punch. --Simon Leake

An American lesbian classic!
Desert Hearts was trail-blazing in its positive depiction of a love affair between two intelligent and attractive women. An uptight English professor travels to Reno to get a divorce (the film is set in 1959), and there meets a sexy, free-spirited sculptress. Their attraction for each other and their budding love is played out in a realistic, romantic and all-together sensuous fashion. Helen Shaver and Patrice Charbonneau in the leads both give warm, expansive performances.

Director:  Donna Deitch

Starring:  Helen Shaver, Patrice Charbonneau, Audra Lindley, Gwen Welles

Common Ground (2000, 105 min, US)

A "Showtime" film of three short plays about the emerging gay culture by three of America's great gay and lesbian playwrights; Paula Vogel, Terrence McNally (Love! Valor! Compassion!) and Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy)

Donna Deitch's (Desert Hearts) entertaining and informative new film was made to show how straight and gay America have interacted with each other for the past 50 years; how we've changed, and how much further we have to go. The first segment, "A Friend of Dorothy" by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, Paula Vogel, is set in an America, fresh from WWII in the early '50's. Joe McCarthy was railing against Communists in the State Department and the Navy was ridding itself of undesirables, like our heroine, Dorothy (Murphy) and her adorable gay buddy Billy (Priestley). Dorothy wasn't sure if she even was a lesbian, but the gay bar she was in sure seemed like home! After her dishonorable discharge she went to a less friendly home in Homer, Conn. As news of her sexual deviancy spread around town, the only warm face was that of closeted lesbian Mrs. Nelson (Kidder) who gave her some money and sent her down to Greenwich Village.

Tony Award winning playwright Terence McNally's piece, "Mr. Roberts" is set in a country rife with an anti-war movement and a people who are beginning to question some of the dominant paradigms, including homophobia. Monsieur Robert (Weber) is a closeted French teacher at Homer High School, and his prize student, Toby (Thomas) is dealing with issues of coming out and being attacked at school for his sexuality. At the risk of ruining his career Roberts decides to help his young student; he comes out in the classroom and we are in a new era.

The third play is Tony Award winning Harvey Fierstein's :"Amos and Andy" about two upwardly mobile gay men who decide to get married, much to the chagrin of Andy's dad Ira (Asner). Ira raises a fuss in Homer and all the bigots come out to protest, looking foolish as the groom's dad walks down the aisle with his son anyway. Andy asks "…is this equality?" leaving us room to examine what the next steps are in the gay and lesbian civil rights battle. A worthy film filled with education for people who need it, and entertainment for the rest of us.

"Director Donna Deitch triumphs with this homespun drama." -- Barry Walters, Rolling Stone

Director:  Donna Deitch

Starring:  Ed Asner, Beau Bridges, Harvey Fierstein, Margot Kidder, James LeGros, Jason Priestley, Mimi Rogers, Helen Shaver, Eric Stoltz, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Steven Weber, Brittany Murphy

Donna Deitch Filmography

Heralding the Return of Desert Hearts

An Interview with Director Donna Deitch
by Loren King for PlanetOut.com

Excerpt:

Ask any lesbian film buff of a certain age to name her favorite sex scene in any movie and odds are she will answer Desert Hearts. The famous love scene between stars Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau was a milestone of romantic heat and breathless realism at a time (1986) when positive lesbian images in films were much rarer than they are today and the ones that did exist (Personal Best, Lianna) sprang from the imaginations of men.

"I feel good about that love scene. I felt good then, but I feel even better now because I see how easy it is to fail," says Donna Deitch, Desert Hearts writer/director. "At the time, fear was not part of the equation ... it's hard to pull off a love scene with heat. [In Desert Hearts], it is a real scene that builds with sexual and emotional tension..."

Deitch Finds Common Ground with Prominent Gay Playwrights

by Gail Shister for The Advocate

Excerpt:

As Common Ground director Donna Deitch tells it, when actor Brian Kerwin and his manager A.D. Oppenheim pitched Showtime the idea of a three-part gay-themed movie by three gay playwrights, the cable network told them they had a deal if they could pull together three acceptable writers. How’s this for acceptable? Kerwin recruited Harvey Fierstein, in whose Tony-winning Broadway play, Torch Song Trilogy, he had performed. Fellow Tony recipient Terrence McNally (Love! Valour! Compassion!) and Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive) followed. Presented with that literary firepower, Showtime programming chief Jerry Offsay grabbed his green-lighting pen—the first time he had ever done so for a movie with no actors attached...

Names Index:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
| Authors Index | Scholars Index |