Kirpianuscus a film. about knowledge. about yourself. about the other. about the feelings after a long time of selfish hunt.a precise verdict. about meets. and about the love as window to the essence of things. admirable performances. and gray atmosphere. and a precious lesson about the importance of gestures and words and courage to become yourself. and, at the first sigh, nothing more. because it is more a form of experience than a movie. cold, honest, clear, fascinating. like the fresh air in a spring early morning after the rain.

guil fisher I caught part of this on IFC Channel on TV and was sorry I didn't tape it. For this movie, made in Canada and Alaska for BBC was one of the better films depicting relationships in the world of gay life as was another brilliant film, Brokeback Mountain. What is unfortunate is that you can't get a copy of this except for YouTube. However, I did locate Gottaseedvds and was able to obtain a good copy on DVD.Tom Shankland is a director to watch. For he certainly did justice to this Barbara Vine novel. You can also get the book on Amazon. He brought honesty to the screen and impeccable casting in all the roles. The photography was superb, most particularly Alaska greenery and snow covered mountains. Even the interior scenes had a quality of dark somber colors and depth. Lee Williams as the lead character, Tim, excelled in this. A beautiful looking young man, almost too pretty, he brings a quiet and soft vulnerability to his role until you discover he is a tortured soul from childhood molestation. Williams is perfectly cast in a difficult role. You feel for him, even though you know his fate is obvious. As his lover, Ivo, Mark Warren, too was excellent. The two men seem to fit together, both in style and believability. Warren brings a mature, yet heartbreaking character to reality. Their love scenes take your breath away. Tastefully done, their sexual scenes were quite smoldering. This I felt more convincing than the two lovers in Brokeback Mountain, although it did make a statement.Rounding out this excellent casting are Mikela J. Mikael as the "other" woman in the picture. There was a kind of haunting quality about her looks and performance, reminiscence of the late Deborah Kerr. I felt sorry for her, not contempt. How the weakness of the heart can cause so much turmoil within ourselves. I can tell you my story sometime. But I liked Mikela's work. Salvatore Antonio plays the contemptuous hustler boy friend who lures our hero into a plot of bad intentions. He did well in a not so likable character. He looked like a hustler. And finally there was Mark Hildreth as the man from our hero's past. He took Tim into his life as a young boy, but eventually grew out of the situation as do most boys having early homosexual experiences in their lives. Unfortunately Tim doesn't.Enjoy this movie for what it has to say. I know I did and continue to watch it on my DVD player.

graham clarke This truly terrific thriller scores in all departments. First and foremost is Lee William's stunningly intense and passionate central performance. He has completely internalized his complex character, bringing it to the screen with tremendous conviction in a display of faultless acting. Marc Warren, resembling a Malcolm Macdowell of younger days, doesn't quite have the same grasp on his character, which at times loses credibility, but fortunately not enough to spoil the film. Mikela Mikael captures a lovely vulnerability so necessary for the plot to work.This is a thriller that works on all levels, which is an achievement few thrillers seem to attain. The plot twists are indeed unexpected and for the length of the movie the viewer is kept riveted to the unfolding story. The cinematography is of the highest level, especially with the amazing Alaskan seascapes but also the carefully shot interiors. Director Tom Shankland who put all this together is certainly a name to watch.Having no expectations or preconceptions about the film, plus the fact of these actors being completely unknown (well, to me anyway), made this one great surprise package. There are not that many classy thrillers around; if that's your pleasure you won't want to miss this one.

zu20 POSSIBLE PLOT SPOILERS? I very nearly didn't watch, this but in the end I'm very glad I did, I was enthralled from the beginning to the end. Tim Cornish who was surprisingly well acted by Lee Williams - who I'd last seen in a fairly awful Beatles film is a fairly shallow but gorgeous, (well Williams is a bit too pretty for my likes but anyway!) university student who becomes attracted to a male university professor called Ivo Steadman. This attraction though initially obsessive in time reveals itself to be shallow because it evaporates when Ivo admits he loves Tim because the sense of mystery is gone. This leads Tim into the arms of a woman called Isabel and to the decision that he must get out of his relationship with Ivo in any way he can even if that means killing him. The acting especially from Marc Warren who is sublime as Ivo is what really made this special and all in all this is a good adaptation of a wonderful Barbara Vine book.In fact i can't speak too highly of Warren the sarcasm and the melancholy but also the great hopeless affection for Tim the way he loves him despite all he has done are all transported perfectly from the book to this teleplay. i guess that was down to a really good bit of casting. All in all i can't say anything more than i thought it was very good well adapted - (yes I read the book - in 2 days i might add) - that's how good it was! and well acted.