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.
7 Reviews
truly beautiful
pastingpictures19 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
I was first introduced to Making Love through Peter Rollins' (the writer of the short film) podcast The Fundamentalists. Making Love follows what seems to be Rollins' staple philosophy of we desire what we do not have, but when we have it, take little pleasure in it. It's quite a gloomy prospect, yet even so this film debut is one of remarkable professionalism and beauty. The pacing was good, if not a little slow, but was reconciled with the hanging question the main protagonist pleads to his lover "Do you love me?". What I love most about this short film besides the overall message is the wardrobe. We see the Writer, dressed in all black, who is contrasted by his lover. The Woman wears a red dress, as if to symbolize the desire that the Writer has for her, the notion that he idolizes and fantasizes her. Yet, by the end of the film, as she runs out to meet her lover as he departs, she appears in a black coat, knocking her down from the Writer's pedestal of lust and desire. She becomes commonplace as they discuss the dying fire of their affair when they find that the Husband was full of empty threats, all of which are closely mirrored in the play the Writer has written. Because, in the end, their "love" has ended up hanging from the gallows, for fear of the unknown.
Making Love (short)
queenannequinn30 January 2019
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.
Making Love
joshbker28 January 2019
Making Love is exactly you'd expect out of a movie made by Peter Rollins, this isn't a Hollywood style display of love, but a meaningful short film on desire and all that entails. With endless themes to dwell on, I found myself rewatching the film. I would also highly recommend on Patreon listening to "A Guide to Making Love" to have a better understanding of the ideas that bring the story to life.
Thought provoking noir!
ziggycross22 January 2019
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.
Came for the title. Left satisfied and wanting more.
thejasgray1 February 2019
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.
Making Love is more... Much more...
rbaileyallen2 August 2019
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