Love and Death on Long Island

Richard Kwietniowski | USA | 1997 | 103 mins

Widower Giles De'Ath (John Hurt) is totally out of step with the modern world. When interviewed on a radio programme and asked if he uses a word processor his dismissive reply is that ‘I am a writer. I do not process words.' One day Giles finds himself locked out and so goes to the cinema. But by mistake he buys a ticket for the Porky's style comedy Hotpants College II instead of an EM Forster adaptation. Watching the film anyway, Giles finds himself transfixed by young actor, Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestly). The next day Giles goes to Hotpants College II again. He is infatuated with Bostock. De'Ath buys a vcr to watch Bostock's other films, furtively purchases teen magazines and builds up a scrapbook of ‘Bostockiana'. Then he decides to travel to Bostock's Long Island home to meet the object of his desire in person...

Perhaps unfairly overshadowed by the similar Gods and Monsters, Love and Death on Long Island is a remarkable little picture that never quite got the attention it deserves. Dealing with its potentially difficult subject matter with a remarkable lightness of touch, the film is by turns funny and touching. Like James Mason's Humbert Humbert in Lolita or Bogarde's Von Aschenbach in Death in Venice, we can really feel for De'Ath, another victim of an impossible love. With Hurt delivering a characteristically excellent performance, the real revelation is Priestly. Displaying a fine line in self-deprecation, the Beverley Hills 90210 man draws on that shows legacy without letting it defeat his performance. (Coincidentally another 90210 alumnus, Tori Spelling, excels in another gay themed movie, Trick. What next I wonder: Shannen Doherty resurrects her career through a lesbian comedy?)

Review by David Khune Jr
Taken from EUFS programme spring 2000