love and death on long island ( canada-uk , 1997 ) * * * 1/3 directed and written by richard kwietniowski , based on the novel by gilbert adair . photography , oliver curtis . production design , david mchenry . editing , susan shipton , music , the insects , richard grassby-lewis . cast : john hurt ( giles de'ath ) , jason priestley ( ronnie bostock ) , fiona loewi ( audrey ) , sheila hancock ( housekeeper mrs . barker ) , maury chaikin ( irving buckmiller ) , gawn grainger ( henry ) , elizabeth quinn ( mrs . reed ) , linda busby ( mrs . abbott ) , bill leadbitter ( eldridge ) , ann reid ( maureen ) . a lions gate release . 93 minutes . pg-13 the source novel by talented british writer and film critic gilbert adair was a rather parodistic reworking of the thomas mann novella " death in venice " told in the first person . writer-director kwietniowski ( london-born in 1957 ) reworked that reworking intelligently , sympathetically , with a strong sense of visuals , editing and benevolent irony . before this , he had made about six gay-themed short films shown in several festivals . " ldli , " his first feature , at the 1997 cannes fesival , received a nomination for a golden camera and a special mention , as did john hurt , from the international critics association . john hurt is present in just about every scene . the thespian has a marvelous track record , mostly in roles as different from one another as they are from deja vu . among them , in " a man for all seasons , " " midnight express , " " the elephant man " ( title role ) , " 1984 , " " the hit , " " white mischief , " " scandal , " " rob roy . " he looks like no one else and can act like nobody's business . now in his late 50s , he has the age of giles de'ath in " love and death on long island . " british writer de'ath lives in contemporary london but not in this century . a widower ( significantly , his wife was older than he , and they had no children ) , he inhabits a world of books in a posh , old-fashioned apartment where his housekeeper follows the man's clockwork routines without intruding into his reclusive habits . he gives no interviews , but when he is finally talked into an appearance on bbc-radio , it is hilarious . giles is befuddled by the questions , the interviewer by the replies . de'ath is truly out of the 20th century in every way . " do you use a word processor ? " " i am a writer " he snaps , " i write words , i do not process them . " not that he has the foggiest about what a processor is . or even a typewriter . a notation in the bbc ledger shows us just two words about the man : " fogey " and " cult . " this nagged me throughout the movie . if giles has not a clue about life-at-large , we don't have any about the kind of writing he does ; or why he is a figure in the literary establishment ; or what kind of cult surrounds him , and why . nonetheless , giles is a hoot . the radio interviewer had pointed out to giles , who had not been to the pictures in ages , that films have been made of the novels by e . m . forster . later , locked out of his apartment and caught in the rain , giles notices such a film on a movie-house marquee and goes in . but unaware that there are such innovations as multiplexes , he wanders into an american teen flick , " hotpants college 2 . " with comic slowness it dawns on him that " this is not forster . " he stands up to leave , but sees on the screen a young performer ( jason priestley ) and is entranced by him . giles gets a " coup de foudre , " his first ever love-at-first-sight and undoubtedly his first love ever , at any sight . the heart is a mysterious thing . a major fixation is born . the besotted writer sees the picture again , acting at the box-office like the traditonal , funny kid who wants to buy condoms in a drugstore . tracking down the name of the actor ( it is ronnie bostock ) in comically awkward ways , he loads up on teen magazines which he buys and disposes of as though they were pornography . he reads and memorizes all about ronnie , starts a cut-and-paste " bostockiana " album . giles further enters pop culture by renting ( more comedy here ) all the bostock videos possible . he purchases a video-player , after first mistaking microwave ovens for such machines , has it delivered by a stupefied young man who explains to giles' surprise that a tv set is required to watch the tapes . passion escalates . after more research , howlers and howl-making episodes , giles takes off for the usa , to the long island village where ronnie and his supermodel girlfriend audrey live by the sea . giles , the innocent at home , becomes the innocent abroad . but by now , the comic tone of the first part acquires a lining of pathos , though without losing various funny delights . the second , american ( though shot in canada ) half , has giles take a room in a motel where mostly couples meet furtively ; be obsessed by his wanting to meet ronnie ; resort to a series of investigations and stalkings that involve everything , from ronnie's dog , his porsche ragtop to giles' becoming a regular at the greasy spoonish establishment owned by irv . it is called " chez d'irv , " which somehow sounds like " chef d'oeuvre " ( french for " masterpiece " ) --a most unlikely bilingual pun , given irv's simple-mindedness love is the mother of inventions . the hitherto very low-key giles goes energetically through loops and hoops , contrives a supermarket " accident " to meet audrey , turns on the charm , makes friends with her while waiting for ronnie to return from california . finally , he meets him . de'ath's task is vastly aided by the small community --including the young couple-- being one of naive people with little or no culture . no denizen had ever heard of de'ath , perhaps even of literature . but all are hugely impressed by having an english author in their midst . dull , duller , dullest giles becomes an exotic creature . it reminds me a bit of the newly rich vulgarians who mistake bob hope for an earl in " fancy pants . " hurt's performance is probably his best , along with his quentin crisp in " the naked civil servant . " in speech , expressivity , body language , timing , he is impeccably in character , ludicrous and absurd yet believable , quasi farcical yet touching . wide-eyed priestley , sporting elvis sideburns that make him look even dimmer , performs with restraint a persona that's partly an un-blatant send-off of his " beverly hills 90210 " heartthrob , partly that of a young actor who confusedly feels that there are things to do higher than his teen-junk movie roles . the ground is fertile for giles to lay on with a trowel compliments , bold and bald statements about ronnie's talents and potential , the imaginary film script giles is writing for him . all this , of course , leads to implanting the idea that things can go better , not with coke but with de'ath as a mentor . to what extent giles believes what he says remains an open question . ronnie's is a supporting role to giles' and audrey's ( well played by a relative newcomer ) is one level below this . the balance of the cast are sub-supporters to the top trio , yet all appearances , down to the tiniest , are sharply sketched out . throughout the film , kwietniowski also fleshes out ambiances through light , economical , amusing touches in the peripherals , from tv watching to weather predictions , not to mention telephone answering machines or faxes . november's attraction to may is something common . so is the mismatched attraction of persons widely separated by social class , taste , intellect , culture . examples abound in movies , from somerset maugham's novel " of human bondage " ( the good version was filmed with leslie howard and bette davis ) to " citizen kane " and beyond . in the case of " love and death " all this acquires new twists and an outcome that i cannot disclose . but i can reveal that there is no sex , there are no caricatures . instead , we get heartfelt sentiment and much humor at the expense of the nadirs of pop culture , teen adulation , as well as of stuffy " high art . " no closure in its fullest sense comes at the end . certain things are left in the air , with an upbeat last-moment hint about giles . there is audience manipulation here , since the title's " death " is a red herring . the name de'ath ( pronounced deh as in irish or italian names ) does really exist , but used without the apostrophe , it suggests to the unprepared public dire events rather than a verbal joke . i'll grant you though that it is a good mnemonic device . " le mauvais gout mene au crime " ( stendhal ) edwin jahiel's movie reviews are at <a href= " http : //www . prairienet . org/ejahiel " >http : //www . prairienet . org/ejahiel</a> 
