Desert heat.

The lesbian classic Dessert Hearts finally makes it to DVD--the commentary by Donna Deitch is new, but the romance remains as sizzling as ever

Desert Hearts * Produced and directed by Donna Deitch * Starring Helen Shaver, Patricia Charbonneau, and Audra Lindley * MGM Home Entertainment * $19.98

When is a film not just a film? When it's a cultural and sociological icon like Desert Hearts, now making its DVD debut. For the first time in American cinema, a film showed that two women could end up as a couple, and lesbian audiences have come to demand attractive leads, hot sex, and happy endings ever since.

In her audio commentary, producer-director Donna Deitch affirms the film's impact, stating that "the most repeated comment" she's heard from women is that the film influenced them to come out, Throughout her wry commentary, Deitch always puts the film into historical perspective, telling how she secured the film rights from Desert of the Heart author Jane Rule, raised a million dollars through limited partnerships (Gloria Steinem and Lily Tomlin even hosted investment parties), and struggled to cast actresses in lesbian roles.

For the uninitiated, Desert Hearts is set in 1959 in Reno, Nev. (then the divorce capital of the United States), where 35-year-old professor Vivian Bell (Helen Shaver) has come to dissolve her stagnant marriage and be free of the ordered life she's led. Vivian catches the eye of Cay Rivvers (Patricia Charbonneau), a casino change girl 10 years her junior, and soon enough the brash openly gay younger woman and the uptight academic strike up a friendship and eventually much more.

Scene-specific commentary is rare, but Deitch does delve into a few of the more crucial segments, like Shaver and Charbonneau's first kiss and how she went about choreographing and filming the love scene so it would have both emotional resonance and sexual heat. (And keep an eye out for Deitch's cameo as the tatted-up gambler with the exotic European accent who tells Shaver, "If you don't play, you can't win.")

Even after 15 years, Desert Hearts has a timelessness thanks to its period setting, vintage Western wardrobes and furnishings, old-fashioned editing techniques, and the omnipresent country-and-western standards pouring out of casinos, cars, and home radios. (Audiophiles should check out Chapter 8, where the source sound for Patsy Cline's "Crazy" goes from the foreground to barely audible background din as the setting changes from corral to car to casino to bathtub.) Incidental noises add to the realism of the story as well, be they the comforting creak of a screen door or the sounds of outside traffic, trains, and church bells seeping into a hotel room during an afternoon tryst.

And then there's the still-palpable chemistry between Shaver and Charbonneau as opposites who throw caution to the wind and find love. Even after all these years, I still yearn to find out what happened to their characters after they stepped onto that train together. Deitch was consumed with these characters too, and in her commentary she even offers up her vision of what may have happened to them in an aborted sequel.

When Desert Hearts premiered, it received a vicious review from New York Times critic Vincent Canby, who had the power to make or break a small independent film. To counteract Canby's review and make sure her film had a chance to gain positive word of mouth, Deitch attended screenings and implored audiences to tell their friends if they liked the film. Well, friends, I'm heeding Deitch's passionate plea when I tell you this DVD is a must-have for cineasts and lesbian film collectors alike.

Marcus has contributed toIndieWIRE.com and Frontiers.