When people describe a film, whether it's one they made themselves or they saw, and say it's 'exploring' a character doing something it can seen like a vague or nebulous way to talk about a film that usually should have a solid story or plot. Lianna is an excellent example though it an "exploration" of a woman who seeks out her own sexual desires despite (or perhaps because of) her marriage to a man and having young children.

What could/would usually be a story, or as typical a one you might see here, is that the affair Lianna has with her female psychology professor would last the whole film leading up to a blow out, big argument. There isnt much room for her to be deceptive however; she tells her husband as soon as it happens, and the fall out really is the core conflict. And it's not as if Sayles has any easy-to-chart story points like they teach in hacky screenwriting classes: it's this feeling more than anything else that she is sometimes looked at as an 'other' and it only fully comes to light when she goes to a gay tavern and... There's really nothing that should be wrong about all this.

In other words, Sayles's second film as director is this sometimes quiet, sometimes intensely felt and dramatic (the husband is a real SOB but fully believable, not in any over the top way, just a stuffy do-what-I-like prick),and has this character at the center who we have no idea what will happen with her. Frankly it's because she doesn't know, and this includes when her kids find out the truth and when (minor spoiler) due to no major fallout her original relationship with the professor doesnt work out.

It's all naturally acted and presented, but Sayles knows that if he can keep his audience interested past it being an "issue" movie, that it's simply about this human being coming to terms and figuring out her life in difficult, adult ways, that's all he's got to do.

If anything it has more of the flow of a novel - if I were told it was a book beforehand of understand - as everything feels and looks and the actors all have this closely done observation of how grown ups do and respond and process information. That the new love/professor is a psychology professor helps, but it's not used as a gimmick or something like that. A major leg up is that Linda Griffiths, an actor I wasnt aware of at all before this, does so much at times with only a little on the page (or maybe it is there and she gets it every step). She could play certain scenes in a more melodramatic way (once or twice she goes for it, when the script really calls for it),but a lot of the time it's intense in another way, like things could escalate but she is keeping it softer, more closely felt. If it has been made a few years earlier I coild have seen Diane Keaton or someone like that. Thankfully, shes a revelation here, as is the movie in general.

Oh, and Sayles is a really good actor!

A very interesting film and certainly a good example of John Sayles work. He wrote, directed and played the male lead in the film. Sayles, who wrote Lone Star, Silver City and Passion Fish among many others, is much better in writing and directing than acting, but he certainly portrays an asshole husband in a loveless marriage well.

Linda Griffiths, in her first film, gave an incredibly touching performance as a woman who realizes that she is a lesbian after having two children. She goes through the emotions as she realizes the first person she ever loved is leaving her for an old girlfriend; she deals with the loss of her family; and she stumbles through as friends don't quite know how to deal with her.

Anytime a marriage breaks up it is hard, but I believe it is doubly hard in this situation and this film really gives a good picture of what all have to go through.

Sayles' second feature as director, and his first great film. It's not perfect, has its share of clichés and is certainly dated, but it's wonderful. Linda Griffiths stars as Lianna, a young mother of two who is constantly suffering under her smarter, controlling husband, a film professor (Jon DeVries). Lianna doesn't have much of a life, but she manages to sneak in a night class twice a week. She develops what seems to be a non-romantic crush on her professor (Jane Hallaren). When her husband cheats on her, the relationship with her professor changes to a sexual one. It would be easy to hold the fact that Sayles is a man against the movie. However, Sayles does here what he does best: create strong, identifiable characters for whom we care. Lianna is really one of the best developed characters I can remember. I absolutely love the way Sayles makes her intellectually inferior to both her husband and lover. It gives her struggle a lot of weight. And I love the line she says to her husband: "Just because you can argue better doesn't mean you are right." She breaks my heart. The power structure between her and her husband is brilliantly written. I also liked that Sayles creates a new power structure, and not one wholly different from the marriage, between Lianna and her lesbian lover. My only complaint is that Sayles does sometimes treat Hallaren's character too kindly. She's clearly taking advantage of Lianna, and at times she's clearly treating her badly. In fact, the relationship starts exactly the same way as the relationship between Lianna and her husband. She was once his student, as well. The parallel isn't underlined as well as it should have been. I think Linda Griffith's performance here is one of the best ever. It's a tragedy that she didn't become famous after this. I know that Sayles isn't the greatest director (specifically referring to the direction) in the world, but this is some of his best work on that front (his very best is certainly Matewan). Of course his greatest talent is his writing; he is such a remarkable writer of human interrelationships. Sayles also gives his best performance as an actor in this film. Lianna is such a subtle work of human emotion. It really doesn't have any big moments, and it doesn't end with any clear resolution. The film's power only hit me about 20 minutes after it was over. It's a small masterpiece.