Product Details

• Actors: John Hurt, Jason Priestley, Fiona Loewi, Sheila Hancock, Harvey Atkin
• Directors: Richard Kwietniowski
• Writers: Richard Kwietniowski, Gilbert Adair
• Producers: Brian Donovan, Christopher Zimmer, Steve Clark-Hall
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Universal Studios
• VHS Release Date: June 15, 1999
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0783229593
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #360,458 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

An older artist, shunned by the white-hot media of the contemporary world, begins to glow again when he meets a handsome, not-altogether all-American boy. In 1998, two writer-directors brought extraordinary care to this subject, creating films that appeared on several top 10 lists. Gods and Monsters won an Oscar for Bill Condon's screenplay and a nomination for Ian McKellen's acting. Richard Kwietniowski's Love and Death on Long Island was forgotten during the award season. John Hurt has rarely been better as Giles De'Ath, a renowned British author of dry, laborious text. By sheer accident he sees a Porky's-type comedy at the theater: Hot Pants College II. About to leave, he spies on screen his very idea of beauty: a near-talentless American actor named Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestley, in another deft, underseen performance). So starts De'Ath's very long trek out of his shell. He is so out of touch that when he purchases a VCR (to see the original Hot Pants College, no less), he doesn't realize he needs a TV set to view the picture. By film's end, he will meet his idol and jump into an abyss. Kwietniowski's debut film has uncommon sensitivity in the realm of fantasy and dream makers. As with Gods and Monsters, its homosexual undercurrent can play comfortably in front of straight viewers looking for crisp writing, fresh perspectives, and great acting. --Doug Thomas

From The New Yorker

A surprising film about romantic pursuit, written like a mischievous postmodern fable. John Hurt is Giles De'Ath, a widowed British author of highbrow novels who lives in reclusive Luddite splendor until he is smitten with teen-flick heartthrob Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestley). Giles pursues this unlikely object of desire all the way to a sweet little Long Island hamlet, where his inventive plans for ensnaring Ronnie prove to be both baroquely funny and touching. One of the many ways in which the film subverts our expectations is by refusing to condescend to its central character; we come to see the daffy Giles as half stalker, half poète maudit, transfigured by romantic greatness. Directed with an original touch by Richard Kwietniowski, the movie is less about the nature of homoerotic longing than about the closeted nature of love itself. -Daphne Merkin
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceptional bittersweet view of sexual obsession, September 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Love & Death on Long Island [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This updated "Death in Venice" with humor/satire will not appeal to everyone. After all, it lacks Glenn Close wielding a knife. What it does offer are three striking peformances from John Hurt as an older man obsessed with teen idol Jason Priestley, and Fiona Loewi as the teen idol's girlfriend, who is considerably sharper than she first appears. (There is also a wonderful cameo role by Sheila Hancock as Hurt's housekeeper. Ms. Hancock, for my money, is one of England's best comic actresses and makes too few movies.) Hurt, as an out-of-touch (out-of-this-century?) writer who rejoins the living when he accidentally catches Priestley in a Grade B Teen-Cumming-of-Age-Flick, is perfect, as always. The contrast between the Grade B images of overt, low comedy sexuality, with the "real-life" (as opposed to "reel-life") Hurt in active mode is just one of the many joys this exceptional movie offers. Hurt's futile but brilliant attempts to seduce Mr. Priestley under Ms. Loewi's nose -- a nose that soon smells something off -- is both poignant and hilarious. Definitely one of the best films of the year....

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good, February 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Love & Death on Long Island [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I am surprised that this film has not been better received by the reviewers below, as it is well-made, thought-provoking, atmospheric, and even poignant. It tells the tale of a stodgy old British author (expertly played by William Hurt) who, by accidentally wandering into the wrong movie theater, conceives an odd appreciation for Ronnie Bostock (Jason Priestley), a B-movie star of teen flicks. This rare ability to find raphaelite beauty in low pop culture troubles the author for weeks, until his obsession over Ronnie gets the best of him and he travels to Long Island to try and meet his idol. The film does an excellent job of portraying Long Island in the winter as an eerie, vacant place. When the author at last talks his way into Ronnie's home, the ensuing machinations and emotions are played so perfectly that I watched the film twice in a row to see them again, and the plot kept me interested throughout. (The tone of the climax in the diner is just great. Jason Priestley does a fine job here.) We are left with the sense that impossible longing is both heartbreaking and inevitable within us; human truth onscreen.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Subtle and Beautiful, December 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Love & Death on Long Island [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I've noticed some wonderfully divergent comments about the film, here. The reason the film is so great is that it truly does offer a multitude of possibilities. For me, this film was about finding beauty in the places where you least expect it. Finding beauty in a teenage sex romp, in men, in Long Island. Giles De'ath's search for beauty (and it's tragic rejection of him) is, I feel, the essence of this film and it is executed with remarkable precision and very good humor.