"When Night is Falling" is a deceptively grim name for a film that so magically explores the triumph of desire and true love. Written and directed by Patricia Rozema ("I've Heard the Mermaids Singing"), the movie manages to fuse the themes of Christian belief and homosexual desire in a refreshingly honest tale of attraction and awakening.

The film tells the story of Camille (Pascale Bussieres), a professor at a Protestant college who is engaged to Martin (Henry Czerny), a trusted minister and fellow professor. While Camille and Martin have been involved for three years, their relationship is put under strain when they are chosen as candidates for co-chaplaincy of the college. As "career Christians" they are urged to get married so that their professional union will be free from ethical reproach.

Yet Camille is vaguely dissatisfied with Martin, and it only takes the death of her dog to provoke an emotional crisis. When, finally, Camille breaks down in a laudromat, Petra (Rachel Crawford), an eccentric and beautiful circus performer, happens to be there. Her comforting touch is highlighted by the camera in a way that promises she will be back, and she arranges a mix-up with their clothes so that they will be forced to meet again.

After this first encounter, Petra makes no attempts to disguise her attraction for Camille. Camille resists Petra's advances, yet we sense that her reluctance is due to religious propriety rather than lack of interest. As Camille is lured by the freedom and magic of Petra's world, she is shocked by the desires which have been stirred within in her. When pressure from creditors threatens to force the circus to leave town, Camille must decide whether to abandon the only type of existence she has known in order to pursue her true desires.

Rozema has a gift for striking scenes which communicate more through images than words. The first love scene between Petra and Camille cuts between love-making and a graceful trapeze duet; Martin's phone call home is recorded on an answering machine next to Camille's empty bed. While Camille is in bed with Martin, the dancing lights that are the focus of Petra's circus act begin to swirl around the screen. The effect is extremely powerful; we immediately understand Camille's dilemma, and the fact that she desires both Martin and Petra suddenly seems human rather than contrived.

Rozema's enchanting directorial technique converts the somewhat cliched plot into a poetic and candid account of desire. The movie's subject matter is challenging, but the visual beauty which Rozema creates, along with the physical beauty of her actors, make Camille and her world seem attractive to any audience.

The one aspect in which the film could be clearer is Camille's dissatisfaction with Martin. At first, Camille and Martin's relationship seems mutually rewarding. Yet, almost immediately after Camille meets Petra, she starts visibly to withdraw from him. The transition from satisfied heterosexuality to accepted homosexuality seems too abrupt.

This weakness is probably a fault of the script, as Pascale Bussieres's performance is otherwise marvelous. Her portrayal of Camille reveals both the character's strong sexual feelings and her reluctance to violate her religious principles. As Petra, Rachel Crawford is a convincing lesbian, without making that the character's defining feature. She is so appealingly whimsical that we can see exactly why Camille is attracted to her.

The title of the film makes more sense in the context of the passage to which it alludes. The quote, from the Ingmar Bergman film "Fanny and Alexander" begins, "The world is a den of thieves and night is falling," and concludes. "Therefore it is necessary, and not in the least shameful, to take pleasures in the little world, good food, gentle smiles, fruit trees in bloom and waltzes." As Camille struggles to choose between her puritanical morality and the fulfillment of her desires, we sense that she has these words in mind.