Al caer la noche

Pascale Bussieres, a Quebecois actress makes her English- speaking debut, as Camille, a teacher at a Christian college that has never let loose.

She is crying in a laundromat after losing her dog, when she meets Petra (Rachael Crawford), a circus performer. Showing up at the circus to deliver laundry that Petra left behind, Camille enters a world of fantasy that she has never experienced.

Canadian film maker Patricia Rozema (Kit Kittredge: An American Girl) gives us a strangely surreal world in which freedom and change battles repression and conformity.

The film was given an NC-17 rating, ostensibly for the lesbian sex scenes, and this affected the ratings given by some reviewers, but the heterosexual scene with Camille's fiancée was much more graphic. The lesbian scenes are tastefully done in a soft focus and very beautiful.

Everyone dreams of running off to join the circus at one time or another. In this case, it is a metaphor for being who you truly are. It takes courage, and we wonder whether or not Camille possesses that courage.

A gloriously beautiful film with a marvelous love story.

I first rented this film 2 years ago & I am still renting it today when I go to the store. I have never seen love portrayed in such an open,honest,wanting & unsured of their feelings kind of way. It is presented in a way most of us feel when we fall in love for the first time or when we fall in love with someone that is not the norm according to society. Even to this day I am impress with the way Patricia Rozema show the characters in such an emotional way, that leaves the audience understanding why these two people fall in love. By the way Pascale Bussieres and Rachael Crawford were GREAT in this movie! After seeing this movie a viewer truly stops categorizing this movie(in a genre such as lesbian/gay, canadian film, etc)and see that showing a love story is the true purpose of this film.

Guys! Don't critize me too much!

I finally saw the film and was very moved. The direction by Patricia Rozema celebrates the love between two women in a romantically subtle way intertwined with the most achingly haunting music I have heard in a long time. With kudos to the actresses (Pascale Bussieres and Rachael Crawford) for portraying the want and need, surrender,confusion, and finally acceptance of their love. I'm sure I'll watch it often and recommend it to others.

A professor once tried to define what makes classic literature. Timeless quality and value, stilted language... Whatever the definition, this is it. The intrinsic love forming between two women against race, religion, and promise. The spark of love in unforgiving winds... flickering. Captured in the surreal fashion that is too close to reality.

Bought this film a few years back. After viewing it, I came to the conclusion that it was by far one of the most beautifully and artistically directed films i have ever seen that deals with the subject matter of a girl meets girl. The lead actresses Pascale Bussieres and Rachael Crawford had great chemistry and were equally beautiful which made the love scenes all the more believable and erotic. There was no contrived or cliched dialogue and you sympathized with the characters and what they were going through especially when Camille was torn between choosing Martin and Petra. This is by far one of the best Canadian productions made.