L'empreinte de la folie

I don't know why actor Dennehy is pictured on the poster. True, he's got a feature role that he brings off well. But the film's really a Barbara Hershey showcase. It's she who has to do the dramatic heavy lifting, going from placid housewife to raging inner person. For the ex-Ms Seagull, it's a thespic tour-de-force. Her wife-mother seems so well adjusted, church, family, community, her smile so real. But then, she initiates an affair with a friend's husband, so we know she doesn't always repress her desires. So just how placid is she, really.

The shots of a barren Texas landscape are aptly conceived, mirroring Candy's (Hershey) unchanging demeanor, at least initially. But then her friend turns up dead, slaughtered in gruesome fashion, and we know the landscape is not as predictable as it seems. Hershey's perfect for the part, her youthful good looks beginning to fade into middle-age. Director Gyllenhaal's camera is riveted to her face, catching every nuance, in this gripping study of morbid psychology. No, I don't think the movie suits all tastes since it's really disturbing at a number of points. Still, it remains a fascinating case study, based on a factual occurrence. Too bad IMDb doesn't supply more of those factual details. Nonetheless, I'm glad to stumble across this obscure gem and it's two memorable last lines that sort of sum up the movie's ironic moral.

The film Evidence of Love (UK title) is contextualised within a small-town community. Within this community, their lives are prescriptive, mundane and conservative, (at least from a liberal perspective). This conservative attitude is highlighted in Evidence of Love as a destructive force as it restricts and represses natural human feelings all in the name of stability.Such conditions provide for an undercurrent of extra-marital affairs, lies, denial, and anger, culminating in a (self-defence) killing to emerge like an uncoiling spring.

As to the acting in Evidence of Love, it is a superb (some might argue stereotyped) portrayal of a mid-American suburban home - maker by Hershey. It seems that Hershey uses method acting to achieve her goal in this film. As for the directing, it comes across as very considered and intelligent. This is because the issue is handled without the histrionics that such an explosive subject matter has the potential to cause. Of course the calm direction is helped by the limited budget for the film.

The film itself exposes an interesting moot point of what is perceived as guilty. It seems in Evidence of Love that there is some confusion in the court as what constitutes 'murder'. Self defence using a gun is not considered murder, but an axe that is wielded 41 times to slay an attacker is a matter of contention is this particular murder charge.

For this moot point alone as to what constitutes self defence in a killing Evidence of Love is worth watching.

I saw this movie since it's release in 1990, I've been amazed by the incredible performance by Miss Hershey, Brian Dennehy is very good too, I think Barbara Hershey is a very underrated actress, I just rented the Entity another of her mind-blowing performances, Killing in a small town, a small budget film but with great acting, I'm going to have to buy the video, 'cause I haven't seen it in video clubs. Thanks for your time

One of my all time favorite books and one of the best TV movies besides The Deliberate Stranger about Ted Bundy starring Mark Harmon. Very haunting murder case, a mother is brutally murdered in her laundry room while her baby cries in its crib down the hall. The small mundane Texas town was turned upside down with the swing of an ax.

does quite well in this film. She lives in a stark Texas town, has her children, attends church, but something is missing. She enters into an affair with her best friend's husband well-portrayed by John Terry.

Lee Garlington is her neighbor with John Terry the faithless husband. This does not wind down however, into histrionics and cheap drama. The film depicts the rage and cold anger Hershey feels, and the explosive results. Dennehey is her defense lawyer, but the courtroom segments are thankfully minimal.

The real credit goes to director Gyllenhall, who creates the Texas suburbs, showing the starkness, both of the housing developments they live in ,the small church atop a deserted hillside, and the small "Main Street USA" town this woman actually lived in. Well done.