The Lost Language of Cranes (film)

The Lost Language of Cranes is a 1991 British television film directed by Nigel Finch. Made by the BBC for their Screen Two series it is an adaptation of the 1986 novel of the same name by David Leavitt.

Philip Benjamin is a 20something middleclass Londoner who works in publishing. Unbeknownst to his parents, Philip is gay and he decides to come out to them. His parents are taken aback by the news and his mother, Rose, says that she will need time to come to terms with it. However, the revelation has a far greater impact on his father, Owen, who at first seems accepting of his sons revelation but later begins to cry. Although he has been married to Rose for years, Owen is also secretly gay, and makes clandestine visits to gay bars and gay adult cinemas.Meanwhile, Philips boyfriend, an American named Elliot, receives a visit from his adoptive parents Derek and Geoffrey, the gay couple who raised him. Soon after their visit, Elliot decides he no longer wants a relationship with Philip and moves to Paris. Philip remains friends with Elliots female flatmate, Jerene, a PhD student who is writing her thesis on languages and behaviour. Her research includes the secret language that a pair of young twins created between themselves and also the case of a neglected young child who began emulating the movements of construction cranes as this was the only thing he could see out of his bedroom window and therefore his only interaction with the outside world at a developmental age. ........

Source: Wikipedia