Lianna
                Reviewed by Linda Lopez McAlister
            For The Women's Show, WMNF-FM, Tampa, FL

     The First Annual Tampa Bay Gay and Lesbian Pride Film
Festival opened to a packed house last night at the Tampa Theater
with two films about lesbian relationships,  Sheila McLaughlin's
"She Must Be Seeing Things," and Alexandra von Grote's absolutely
wonderful film "Novembermoon," which I hope will return for a
regular run.  It should not be missed.  The festival continues
tonight with two films on gay themes, "The Naked Civil Servant," a
BBC film about Quentin Crisp and Dona Herlinda and "Her Son," a
comedy from Mexico.  The Festival's closing night will be Sunday
when "Tongues Untied," a film about gay black men will be screened
in a double bill with "Lianna," the final and probably the most
well-known of the lesbian-theme films in the Festival.

    While Lianna is not exactly a mainstream Hollywood film, it
was shown in theaters--mainly art film houses--throughout the
country when it was released in 1983, and it is widely available
in home video stores.  But even if you've seen it before, it
warrants another look in the Gay and Lesbian Film Festival
setting and on a big screen if you've only seen it on the tube.

    Some feminist critics find this film problematic because it
was written, directed, and edited by a straight man, John Sayles.
While I think it is true that this would have been a different
film if it had been made by a lesbian filmmaker, I have nothing
but good things to say about Lianna, and praise for Sayles
accomplishment.

    The film is a tightly crafted and beautifully acted story of
what happens in all aspects of her life when Lianna, a faculty
wife and mother in her early thirties falls deeply in love with
Ruth, the visiting professor in a child psychology course she's
taking at the college where her husband teaches.  Watching Lianna
go through the process of discovering, exploring and affirming
her identity as a lesbian and as her own person is a moving and
very positive experience that lesbian and non-lesbian women alike
can identify with.  But this film is almost as much about the
ways in which straight people react to lesbianism as it is about
lesbian experience itself. Lianna's children, husband, friends
and neighbors exhibit a variety of responses from homophobic, to
indifferent to supportive. Sayles very skillfully uses this
subplot to provide the resolution that gives the film a "happy
ending" despite the fact that Ruth decides to return home to her
former lover at the end of the semester leaving Lianna, sad and
alone (but with no regrets). Though Ruth is gone, Lianna's best
friend, whose homophobic reaction had caused a tense estrangement
between them, is finally able to admit how much she has missed
Lianna and how much she loves her. This reconciliation along
with the strong sense we get that Lianna, having discovered and
embraced her lesbian identity, will now go on to live the life
she wants to live, are the plot elements that provide a sense of
closure to the narrative.  This dual focus makes Lianna a good
film to recommend to straight people who are trying to understand
and come to terms with homosexuality.  For lesbians, Lianna is a
classic coming out story to see and enjoy over and over.

    Since summer movies are almost all made for the 16-29 year-
old male audience, there are slim pickings ahead for feminist
film lovers in the theaters for the next couple of months.  (One
exception is "The Story of Women" coming to the Tampa Theater for a
week's reprise July 13).  So this is a good time to search out
those terrific feminist films hiding on the shelves of the video
stores. I'll be making some suggestions along those lines in the
weeks to come, and I'd love to hear from you if you have some
favorites I may not have discovered yet.

    For the WMNF Women's Show this is Linda Lopez McAlister on
women and film.