Lianna

Another Great Slice Of Life From John Sayles!
"Acclaimed writer/director" John Sayles has been making some of the best films around for the last twenty years. MGM and IFC Films have just released three of his earliest to DVD for the first time, "RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS SEVEN" (Sayles maiden directorial effort), "THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET" and this wonderful film, "LIANNA". The story of an unhappily married young woman named Lianna (beautifully played by Linda Griffiths)who discovers after eight years of marriage that she is a lesbian. She falls in love with an older woman, a night school teacher, and this leads to a seperation from her doofus of a husband and her two children. Lianna's oddyssey of self-discovery is endlessly fascinating and compelling. This film is a wonderful, witty, and warm human drama! For those of you tired of empty headed Hollywood blockbusters big on CGI effects, explosions, car chases, and cardboard characters, check out this film and some of Mr. Sayles other...

Troubled people, love in many forms and a fine story
This little-known 1983 film must have been shocking in its time. It's about a young mother in an unhappy marriage to a college professor. She begins an affair but the twist of this story is that the affair is with a female teacher. She then has to cope with a broken marriage, the angst of her two children, and a whole new world of the lesbian subculture. Add to this the fact that the older woman is not as anxious to commit to the relationship. She doesn't want to be exposed as it would hurt her career and she also has a long-standing relationship with a woman in another state. The young woman now finds that life is just as difficult for her as it was when she was married to her uncaring spouse. There's high drama here, but it never turns maudlin.

Linda Griffiths is the young woman and she's great in the role of a woman who is suddenly cast into a lifestyle that is totally new to her. Jane Hallaren is the older teacher in an excellent performance. She, too, comes...

Twenty Years Ahead
'Lianna' is one of the few John Sayles movies I literally had to wait years to see. Virtually buried for decades, all I knew about this film was the very tepid reviews I had read about it. Fortunately when it became affordably available I got to view it for the first time. I was expecting a rampant "movie-of-the-week" sentiment, but instead I saw a provocative, insightful film which felt far more like it was made last year, rather than in the early 80's. 'Lianna' is a bold, visionary film that is less about lesbianism per se than it is about the various reactions of the people in her life to her sexual awakening. It is a very passionate film experience which is less polished than Sayles later films, but has more emotion than I've experienced in all of his films combined.

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