When Night Is Falling -1995- -
The supporting cast is also excellent, with Olivier Milhaud delivering a memorable performance as a sympathetic but ultimately distant love interest. The characters are well-developed and multi-dimensional, with each one bringing their own unique perspective and motivations to the story.
Rozema, who also wrote and produced the film, brings a distinctive visual language that elevates When Night Is Falling above conventional romantic dramas. Cinematographer Douglas Koch bathes the film in a palette of deep blues, icy whites, and warm, amber firelight. The title is literal: the most crucial scenes—the first kiss in a car, the lovemaking in Petra’s van, the final confrontation in a rain-soaked chapel—all occur as daylight recedes.
Rozema, who wrote, directed, and edited the film, had already announced herself as a singular voice with I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987). With When Night Is Falling , she pushes further into the dreamlike. The film is drenched in metaphor: water as rebirth, fire as passion, ice as repression. Cinematographer Douglas Koch bathes the screen in deep blues and warm ambers, turning Toronto into a city of perpetual twilight—a liminal space where rules loosen. when night is falling -1995-
★★★★½ (4.5/5) Recommended for fans of: Desert Hearts (1985), The Watermelon Woman (1996), Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019).
In this landscape, When Night Is Falling was a radical act of hope. It is a film with no AIDS, no suicide, no conversion therapy. The obstacles are internal: fear of God, fear of abandonment, fear of ecstasy. Rozema’s film dares to suggest that a queer woman of faith can not only survive but transcend . The final shot—Camille soaring across a highwire in a circus tent, stripped of her academia and her shame—is one of the most liberating images in 1990s cinema. The supporting cast is also excellent, with Olivier
Her world collides with chaos when her dog escapes during a winter night. Chasing after him, she stumbles upon a laundromat where she meets Petra (Rachael Crawford), a striking, androgynous circus performer. Petra is everything Camille is not: nomadic, impulsive, fluid in both gender expression and sexuality. Petra works as a wire walker for a small, avant-garde circus, living out of a van and crafting poetry out of risk.
One of the standout aspects of "When Night is Falling" is its use of atmosphere and cinematography. The film is shot in a stark, neo-noir style, with a muted color palette and a pervasive sense of unease. The camerawork is lyrical and expressive, with a focus on close-ups and medium shots that create a sense of claustrophobia and intimacy. The score, composed by Béatrice Thiriet, adds to the overall sense of tension and foreboding, perfectly capturing the mood of each scene. Cinematographer Douglas Koch bathes the film in a
"When Night is Falling" is a film that is rich in themes and symbolism. On the surface, it appears to be a simple tale of obsession and desire, but upon closer inspection, it reveals itself to be a complex exploration of the human psyche. The film touches on issues of identity, self-discovery, and the fragility of the human condition.
Released in the mid-90s—a fertile but fraught era for queer cinema, sandwiched between the New Queer Cinema explosion and the mainstream assimilation of the 2000s— When Night Is Falling remains a singular, hypnotic work. It is a film about faith, gravity, and the terrifying freedom of letting go. For those searching for the essence of this title, the year 1995 is crucial: it captures a pre-internet world of longing, where desire had to be acted upon in physical space, often under the cover of darkness.
The use of symbolism is also noteworthy, with recurring motifs such as the night, shadows, and mirrors serving to reinforce the film's themes. The night, in particular, is a powerful symbol, representing the unknown, the unconscious, and the darker aspects of human nature. The shadows that populate the film are equally significant, serving to represent the repressed desires and fears that lurk within Camille's psyche.