March 10, 2008
From a 16 year old in England:
Hi there Lydia,
I can’t post anything publically really, as I’m not out yet. I just wanted to answer some of your questions that you posted. I had been looking ALL OVER for a copy of Desert Hearts. I went to the library, I downloaded search software, went to about 20 different website ( I couldn’t use Blockbuster as I couldn’t risk ym parents finding out). I eventually found it. On YouTube of all places! I think it’s so great that now virtually everyone can see it and be inspired to pick up a copy of the film. It’s reaching audiences that it hadn’t done previously and a whole new generation- I’m only 16. But now I’ve seen it about 15 times. I think I should take a leaf out of your book and slow it down! There hasn’t been a film like it. I wrote a letter to Patricia yesterday, but I couldn’t find an address. I would have emailed it to you but I handwrote it! So I signed up to this Celebrity address thing and it gave her Santa Monica Blvd address, so I sent it there- I just hope she gets it because I don’t fancy writing all that out again.
This film has helped me in so many ways- to escape, to realise who I am etc... I will come out eventually and much quicker thanks to this film, it’s just hard because my Asian family aren’t very accepting when it comes to that sort of thing.
Anyway, the way it really inspired me was to screenwrite/act because I can reach thousands of people through a medium and change their lives, change their outlooks and views.
This is all included in my letter to Patricia (who incidentally was the one I had a crush on. I say "had"... maybe that wasn’t the write word :])
I think thats the answer to most of your questions, but yeah I’d like to say thanks so much for making this documentary. It means a lot to so many people.
Alex, 16, England
Realised I didn’t answer two of your questions:
5) favorite scene
I really loved two scenes in DH (apart from the love scene) and they were 1) When Vivien takes Cay’s mail to the cottage and she’s just at the door... I think that scene’s fantastic because you can really see the chemistry and that line "how you get all that traffic with no equipment etc... " had me in stitches!! the second scene would have to be where the two main characters are downstairs at night and trying not to make noise; the chemistry again is fantastic and it’s the start of where Vivien starts to let down her guard. Cay is SO cute in that scene as well.

6) favorite line of dialogue

there are a few again:

Frances: i’m handlin’ it

but also when Vivien goes on a ramble about how staff and pupils won’t approve (of an affair with a 25 year old woman) and then said "I love you too"- it was so poignant and said with such emotion, it gets me every time!

"You can start my putting the Do not disturb sign on the door"- WOW
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Nov 5, 2007 4:45 AM From Carrie:

Hi. I love the photos from the DH event and I’m incredibly excited about your documentary!

I think it would be wonderful if you used the photos to create a simple video montage to upload to Youtube. In addition to making lots of fans happy, it would be a great way to promote your documentary and lure people to this myspace account . I make this suggestion based upon the popularity of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHVdnKXmBig.

Also, I’m always surprised that no one makes a big deal out of the fact that Helen Shaver met her husband on the set of DH. It’s pretty fantastic that a lasting (going on twenty years) love affair was spawned by a movie that has meant so much to so many of us. Perhaps in the past fans might not have appreciated having heterosexuality "spoil everything," but I think we’ve gotten to the point where such us/them divisions are behind us. If possible, could you please mention Helen’s husband in your movie.

Take care and good luck with your project!


Hi Carrie,
thanks for writing to me and for your suggestions. I think your YouTube idea is brilliant and I will definitely post a slideshow plus maybe a few video clips from the dvd signing. I had actually seen that clip you mentioned before on YouTube and was a bit jealous that someone had gotten footage of patricia, helen, and alex chatting because i never got the three of them together, nor did i get footage of helen and patricia really chatting together. i had done brief interviews with each of them separately. but i am going to be seeing patricia and helen later in the week so this is a chance to get the footage i missed. i agree with your comments about helen’s marriage due to desert hearts - kind of funny too that patricia calls the child she was pregnant with during desert hearts her desert hearts baby. that baby is in their 20’s now! yikes, how time flies.
- Lydia Marcus, Director "Desert Hearts Mon Amour"

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Nov 7, 2007 11:46 AM
Rachel:
I’m in LOVE with DESERT HEARTS & VIVIEN & CAY & HELEN & PATRICIA! I’d like to know how to get a poster of it. If you know could you Please tell me. I’m only 25 years old so I was only 3 when this great movie came out. I just discovered it last month & I’ve been watching it ever since. Also along with poster info could you if you know how I could contact Donna, Helen & Patricia. So I can tell them how much I’m in love with their movie. Thanks so much. I love your pictures of the signing. I’m so freakin’ jealous. LONG LIVE DESERT HEARTS!



Hey Rachel,
thanks so much for writing to me. i’m so glad you finally found the movie and love it so much. i found my own desert hearts poster on ebay - so i suggest you look there. I can’t give you any contact info for donna, patricia, or helen, but if you’d like to write a letter and email it to me here on myspace or at desertheartsmonamour@earthlink.net, I’d be happy to post it on my myspace page, on my official website desertheartsmonamour.com (once it launches), and who knows, possibly include some of the text in my documentary. glad you liked my pix, i hope to have more up soon as i’m seeing donna, patricia, and helen later in the week. - Lydia Marcus, Director "Desert Hearts Mon Amour"

Nov 7, 2007 2:30 PM


Rachel:
Well thanks a lot I’ll have to look on ebay. Yeah you must take more pictures of the gang. I’m waiting to see them. I just find it so cool your going to see them again. Again I’m so jealous. Also thanks so much for telling me that your going to see them again. I’d really love to meet them & tell them how much I love there movie. I do get to see them though when I watch Desert Hearts like everyday. Has Donna mentioned a sequel cause she talked about that in the commentery of the movie. Let’s keep in touch cause were just 2 of so many people that love this movie. I’ll keep checking your website to. Thanks.



Lydia Marcus:
Donna told me that she wants to have the sequel out in time for the 25th anniversary. She’s currently working on the script. And Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau are supposed to be reprising their roles in the sequel.



Rachel:
Hey hi it’s me again. Just wondering if you’ve ever read the book Desert of the Heart by Janet Rule. I want to buy that to. Is it good if you’ve read it. I’ll probably buy it anyway cause it’s what it is I was just wondering.

Lydia: you should definitely read the book, it’s really well written. i read it a twice in college. jane rule is still alive but pretty old - i think upper 80’s. the book alludes to more of vivian’s (i think called evelyn in the book) repressed homosexuality. definitely let me know what you thought of it after you read it. i actually wrote a term paper in college comparing/contrasting the movie vs the book. at some point i’m going to be able to post old interviews/stories/reviews about desert hearts. i have a pretty extensive file. i even have an early draft of the script. i have to get everything scanned first. if you’re looking for other good lesbian films - check out Aimee and Jaguar (a true story about the love affair between a jew and the wife of a nazi officer during ww2). one of my favorites. VERY intense. I’m sure you’ve probably seen Bound as well by now. There’s a great book called "The Celluloid Closet" by Vito Russo that tracks the history of queer cinema up til around the time of Desert Hearts. Unfortunately Vito died of AIDS not long after the revised edition came out. so the book is a definite time capsule, BUT it’s still a very useful tool to help search out queer films from the past you’ve probably never even heard of. Also, do a google on Jenni Olsen - she’s written several contemporary books on the subject. And right not, afterellen.com is probably the best place to find out about lesbian tv/film that’s new.

Rachel:
Wow woman thanks so much. I again watched the movie last night & guess what I’m still totally in love with it. I will have to get the book cuase I really really want to read it. But again it does involve having money. I think I’m going to buy the poster of Desert Hearts today. I hope it doesn’t cost money to register on ebay. Cause I got confused by all that. I’m in awe of you doing all that stuff on the film. I’m even more jealous of you having an early draft of the script. How the heck did you get that? That Aimee & Jaguar movie sounds real real good. I’ll really have to look for that. Yes I own Bound & that’s a great movie to. I also own 4 seasons of The L Word which Helen was on for 2 episodes but she was so mean on those 2 episodes. I really didn’t like her character but I always take it as she did get Bette to cry after the miscarrige. Do you watch The L Word? I just got season 4 yesterday so I haven’t watch it yet. I also have High Art, The incredibly True Adventure of 2 Girls in Love, Better Than Chocolate, Imagine Me & You, Loving Annabelle & a few more. I do want to thank you for putting off of Claire of the Moon. I saw the trailor of it on the Desert Hearts DVD & it looked good but than I read that you didn’t like it all that much so now I’m not going to buy it or even see it.

Rachel:
Hello! I just looked at more of the pictures. So cool. I wish I could have been there to say hi to Helen, Patricia & Donna & that’s probably all I would have said cause I would have been so freakin’ nervous to say anything elese. I ordered the poster so hopefully it will come soon & I can place it on my wall. Very exciting. Do you have more pictures. I just love seeing them.

Lydia:
hey rachel,
here’s answers to your last two emails:


the "Desert Hearts" script I found years ago (I think either in 1991 or 1992) at a place on Hollywood Blvd in Hollywood that sold scripts and other movie memorabilia. I used to just call or search various movie memorabilia places until i found stuff - and there were quite a few of these memorabilia shops in Hollywood - you know back in the pre-internet era. I don’t actually know how many of those stores are still around. The fact that it was an earlier draft probably made it pretty rare.


Yes I do watch the L Word, but I can’t say I’m a huge fan. I’d have to say that Logo’s new show Exes and Oh’s is doing a much better job at "representing." And it’s funny too. The L Word is often funny, I just don’t think it’s meant to be intentionally funny. The show is more camp to me. But occasionally they get it right. Now if Tina and Bette would just get back together!


Regarding Claire of the Moon, just because I wasn’t a fan I don’t think that should keep you from seeing it. The filmmaker behind it, Nicole Conn, happens to be a really awesome person. At the time it came out, we all had such high hopes for it because we were all starved for images after Desert Hearts. I’d be curious what someone today would think of it without all that pressure.


RE pictures: I’m working on getting some more pictures from the Power Up event to post. I posted the best ones that a member of my crew shot, but I’m scouring the internet looking for more. Plus I’m going to see if Donna Deitch has any personal ones she can share with us. Eventually I will be able to pull a few stills from my video footage, but no time for that right now. I’m trying to learn Final Cut Pro so I can edit some of my own footage and put up quicktime clips for people visiting the site. Anyway, I was fortunate enough to get close to 20 minutes with Helen and Patricia at the Power Up Premiere to interview them for this documentary. I was going to do a one on one interview with Patricia prior to the event starting but there was some kind of snafu regarding her flight from NY to LA so I ended up grabbing what time I could with both of them together. They really have very good chemistry together even off-screen. And Patricia’s hair was quite a bit longer from when I saw her at the LA Virgin Megastore DVD signing event. She told me that Donna asked her to start growing it out in anticipation of shooting the sequel. Good call on Donna’s part. :-)
- Lydia Marcus, Director "Desert Hearts Mon Amour"

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Ada:
It’s so true about Helen Shaver’s husband never being mentioned (not even by Donna on the dvd commentaries). I didn’t know about it until recently. Deitch may have been simply trying to respect the privacy of her colleagues, but it definitely seems to be a terrific bit of trivia worth mentioning.

It reminds me of the nasty comments made many years ago about Patricia Charbonneau "flaunting her baby" when she attended special screenings of DH. The woman was gracious enough to appear in public in order to bring happiness to her fans, yet some people criticized her for "advertising her heterosexuality/traditional motherhood role" just because she wanted to remain close to her own child. Charbonneau’s daughter, by the way, appearanced in last month’s episode of "In the Life" (when her mom was signing dvd’s in NYC) and she’s a total sweetheart.

Can’t wait to see all of the fun stuff in your collection. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Posted by Ada on Saturday, November 10, 2007 at 9:19 AM

Lydia:
Yeah I know Patricia Charbonneau took a lot of heat, in a sense, for being straight. If I recall the issue of taking her baby to promotional events had actually something to do with being a struggling actress and not having $ for daycare or whatever. I heard that "In the Life" covered the NYC dvd signing but I haven’t seen the episode yet. I keep checking their website - because now you can watch new content on their site. I’ve never seen a picture of any of Patricia’s kids so that would be really interesting to see. I saw Helen Shaver perform on Broadway in Jake’s Women back in April of 1992 (the show was so good I actually went to see it twice on Broadway and once when it finally toured to L.A.). Well anyway, I saw Helen going up to the stage door before the show walking with her son who at the time was a really, really young child. And when Helen, Patricia, and Donna attended the dvd signing in L.A., Helen was there with her husband. Anyway, thanks for checking out my page, come back again - I will definitely post some teaser video clips soon. And I’m going to be seeing Donna, Helen, and Patricia in L.A. tomorrow so hopefully will have new pix up soon!
- Lydia Marcus, Director "Desert Hearts Mon Amour"
ps to everyone writing me letters or posting to the blog, check out my Desert Hearts questionaire on this myspace page and if answer my questions and post written answers or let me know that you have a video or video blog you’d like to respond with. All this will help me with my documentary. thanks!
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Ada:
http://www.inthelifetv.org/html/episodes/51.html

Posted by Ada on Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 7:02 AM

Lydia:
thanks so much for the in the life link! i guess when i checked last the content wasn’t up yet. the link came in handy as i got to watch it today before i actually went and did an interview with patricia (and helen) at the power up premiere at the beverly hills hotel. too tired now to post pix or info about the event but i will very soon.
- Lydia Marcus, Director "Desert Hearts Mon Amour"
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Dee: thanks for this page
WOW, a movie that was released around the time I was born, the irony is I found it at the library and rented it. I hate westerns and old flicks but then again old movies can win new hearts. I’m on my third watch and have 3 hours to hop on the bus to return it on time. I wish I could help/watch you build your project for the knowledge, then again I’m in NYC.
Hope your dreams become fathomable.

Lydia:
hey dee, thanks for writing to me! i’m so glad you found desert hearts - you are the FIRST i’ve heard of someone getting it at the public library - that is soooo cool. maybe you could write back and say why you’ve watched it three times in a row - what is it that is capturing your attention. personally i find the film pretty timeless but i’m curious what a 20something exposed to current tv/cinema thinks of a 21 year old lesbian film. how does it stack up? any other extra thoughts that spring to mind, would love to hear back.

Dee: I think that it is the transformation of Helen Shaver’s character, Professor Vivian, and the subtle take on the romance. It had a simplicity that created a vibrant raw beauty. I enjoyed the status changes throughout the movie as well as how the movie only advanced toward the plot. I watched it three times to test my emotional vulnerability to the acting. I believe that if I watch something three times close together without losing interest then it is the perfect type of movie to learn from. I am an inspiring writer, actor, lover, and movement maker, I find that old and new things hold value to who I will become so I study them to study them and remember them well. I hope I answered your questions and you accept my add request so I can check up on your pages.

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