Television Reviews : ‘Face of Trespass’ a Carefully Crafted <i> Film Noir</i>

In the middle of “The Face of Trespass” (airing at 8 tonight on the Arts and Entertainment cable channel), a 90-minute British film noir , the young novelist (Stephen Dillon) who has fallen for a glamorous, married stranger (Amanda Donohoe) goes to France to visit his dying mother and her solicitous second husband. The adultery and talk of murder temporarily go on hold while we glimpse the rather touching love between the two old folks.

The care invested in these scenes, which are almost completely peripheral to the story, is indicative of the care invested in the whole film. This BBC/Arts and Entertainment project is classy in ways that just wouldn’t occur to anyone who might make a 90-minute thriller for an American commercial network.

Not that it’s high-toned or stuffy. We also see more of Donohoe’s body than we would on an American commercial network. And the story, adapted by Michael Baker from a novel by Ruth Rendell, isn’t unfamiliar: Donohoe would like to persuade Dillon to help her murder her rich husband for his money.

Still, it’s cleverly worked out, though the time-frame of events leading up to one crucial weekend might be a little clearer. Donohoe and Dillon make a sexy-cold couple (they write love notes to each other on a computer). And the locations, especially a windmill that’s been converted into a country home, make for some picturesque shots. Colin Luke directed with considerable flair.