In der Abenddämmerung

I saw this film when it first aired on HBO and came across it recently on Logo. Logo added 28 minutes of commercials to make a 90-minute film, and what a slog those were to sit through.

So I went to Amazon to buy it, only to find out it wouldn't be available on DVD until last July, then September, and now November.

So this review is written a long time after seeing the whole thing.

Enough griping. This film is superb, though I speak with a bias toward sad movies. Christopher Reeve's direction is marvelous. He gets perfect performances from Robert Sean Leonard and Glenn Close as the son and mother. David Strathaim as the father is very good. Whoopi is good, but I thought her "love him" speech sounded forced.

The film's emotional impact is huge. There are three very sad moments: when Glenn Close sings "Danny Boy," when Danny dies, and when the mother and father embrace at the end. For me, Danny's death was the least sad of the three. Glenn Close's singing of "Danny Boy" is beyond perfect ... the way she can't sing the last word ... it rips me apart.

The scenery is so gorgeous. The pullback from the house at the end is very well done. The final credits are great with the song sung by Reeve's wife -- another teary moment -- except Logo ruined them.

Reeve was a great director.

(2014) I was going to post a review of the film, only to find I already had. I upped the rating from 9 to 10 stars. I just checked Amazon. It's still not available on DVD, only VHS. I don't get it.

A son spends his last months at home while dying of AIDS. In doing so, he helps his family come to terms with his life, and brings his parents to an understanding of the unsaid things that caused them to drift apart over the years. This short movie expresses the deep and gentle love that tragedy reveals to those who live dutiful, busy lives.

Glenn Close played her role with a master's delicacy. Christopher Reeve used the beauty of sky, trees, and grounds surrounding the house where he filmed "In The Gloaming" with affecting skill. All of the cast and crew worked together to create a perfect small film.

I rented "In The Gloaming" mainly because I am an avid fan of the brilliant young actor Robert Sean Leonard. However, I was happily surprised to see a film that not only highlights Mr. Leonard's acting talents at their finest, but also a film that was a touching and brutally real look at an imperfect family and their struggles to cope with having to be around one another while crisis and tragedy tear their family apart. I believe this film is a must-see for anyone who has ever been a part of a family that has been tormented by the demons of its members.

My first observation was the beauty of the landscape. The New England area must be one of the most beautiful places on earth, especially in autumn when the leaves turn gold and red. The writers use this fact to their advantage when they set their story in such heavenly surroundings.

Then when I heard the music (piano only) I said to myself this is going to be a sad film, or may be overly sentimental.

As the story progressed, I sensed that here was a family whose members lived independent lives until the son comes home to die of AIDS. In this new situation the family is scarcely able to cope and they employ a nurse (Whoopi Goldberg) as a carer. There is a moving scene where the nurse virtually teaches the mother (Glenn Close) how to express her love towards her sleeping son. "Touch him" she says.

There are many scenes between the mother and son when thoughts about their respective lives are exchanged. It is as if they are getting to know each other for the first time. The dialogue in the film is mainly between mother and son. All the other characters while still important have much less to say.

The film has a gentle quality about it. All the characters repress their thoughts and feelings apart from an occasional outburst of frustration that tends to liven up the sad circumstances. We have seen films about dying AIDS victims before so there is nothing new here, except for the beauty of the setting. All those trees aflame in the sunset and an empty garden seat definitely accent the sadness suffered by the family.

This is a film appropriately named. Many of the exterior shots take place in the gloaming, that lovely space between sunset and the stars coming out. The colours are extraordinary - New England has never looked more lovely drenched in the colours of the seasons in which the film takes place, with a gorgeous windowed house overlooking it all.

This is a story about a family and the shifting of its dynamics when the son comes home to die of AIDS. Whoopi Goldberg (a very small part) is employed as a nurse and the mother (Glenn Close)attempts an exploration of getting to know her son. This is basically the plot.

David Strathearn in a role made for him, plays the father, a man unreconciled to his son's sexual orientation but still very much in love with his wife, a fact which escapes her until her son points it out.

There is an absolutely riveting scene of the mother singing his baby song to her son that had me in tears. It wasn't over sentimentalized in any way, the father overlooking the scene adds to the feeling of his distance from his wife and son. Beautifully done. If I had any fault, it was with the ending. A little too pat.

I would see this again. Glenn Close was never lovelier. 7 out of 10.