Making Love

It was late one lonely night and I was browsing the net for a low budget short film, with enough of a dopamine hit to efficiently send me to sleep. Somehow I came across Making Love and it seemed appropriate; in a particular kind of way. But what unfolded in the following 30 minutes was not what I expected, nor what (I thought) I wanted. I was seeking a simple script that would comfort me in the form of a happy ending. What I received instead, however, was a dark-bordering-sick example of what happens when we lose ourselves in the world of the fantasy. There is a reason many people in this world choose to live in the light, chasing simple pleasures with acceptable outcomes. This tale is not that. This tale will disrupt the innocent viewer and cause them to wonder, 'Who am I and what kind of sick fantasies am I chasing?' If you are happy to have the innocence of your desires violently stripped from you, do proceed. I know I was. Viewer discretion is advised.

If you like philosophy and character analysis, this movie might be for you. If you like action and traditional notions of romance, it might not. Peter Rollins has an interesting take on love and desire. Back in high school, my teachers would claim that stories without satisfying endings actually had good endings because they left you with questions and made you think. Making Love is like that. After watching, I kept asking myself, "why did the main characters do this? Why did that character do that?" So, check it out and see how we want what we can't have.

As a great fan of Peter Rollins, I had watched the companion guide and listed to many lectures on this film, so I already knew the ending & every move that was being made. Still the film held up an amazing amount of tension brilliantly! The sensually sweeping cinematography between birds & bodies righteously reflects Rollins' work of human (un)raveling. Rollins shows the undulating between worlds of what we have and don't have, what we want but don't want, and who we are or who we want to be. While the pacing was good, I felt another 3 minutes were needed to allow more space before responding to certain questions. The normal expected pat answers would have been answered as quickly, but the substance of the answers these characters give needed more time to set. A 9/10 only because I wanted a full feature. Making Love beautifully unpacks the anti-climax of Romance. This work is very important to our social development. Once this film becomes that standard norm, perhaps then humanity has a chance.

Built around the psychoanalytic ideas of Jacques Lacan, Making Love explores the relationship between desire and obstacle. There's plenty of challenging and insightful ideas, as well as some great quotes, as you'd expect from any Peter Rollins piece of work. The film is very well shot, and is a visual feast, props to Ryan Kernaghan for the powerful cinematography (which sits up there with other top tier noir films). Highly recommend for any fans of the noir genre or Peter's other work.

This film keeps your heart and mind beating all at once...

Such a cool movie! Provocative in more ways than sensual, that's for sure. Bravo!

Best of luck to the filmmakers of this wonderful short story!