Lianna (1983)

Synopsis: Linda Griffiths plays Lianna, the naive young wife of a professor bored with her life and angered at her husband's blatant sexual indiscretions. She has an affair with another woman, Ruth (Jane... Linda Griffiths plays Lianna, the naive young wife of a professor bored with her life and angered at her husband's blatant sexual indiscretions. She has an affair with another woman, Ruth (Jane Halleran), and when her affair becomes common knowledge, she finds herself shunned by both her friends and family. Released shortly after a handful of films touching upon homosexual relationships (MAKING LOVE, PERSONAL BEST), LIANNA is a realistic depiction of a lesbian relationship that does not succumb to typical Hollywood formulas. Director John Sayles traces the consequences of divorce and the constrictions of women's possibilities with an unsentimental eye, showing that freedom often comes with a heavy price. Although many people were skeptical about a man helming a film about lesbians, Sayles does an admirable job creating a movie that no studio wanted to touch, on a budget that very few directors could live within. Later in his film career, he would continue to explore topics considered outside his range of experience, including life in Harlem (BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET) and the terrors of a war-torn Third World country (MEN WITH GUNS). [More]

Starring: Linda Griffiths, Jane Halleran, Jo Henderson, Jon De Vries

Starring: Linda Griffiths, Jane Halleran, Jo Henderson, Jon De Vries, Chris Elliott

Director: John Sayles

Director: John Sayles

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