Visible Love

[NB: Not all the videos are appropriate for all ages.]

Can you feel the love tonight?

Better yet: What is love?

I mean, we can write all the love stories we want, but maybe we should think twice before we make any more films about this crazy little thing called love.

We know love is a verb, but how do we show that in the visual medium of film?

One of the... sexiest films I've ever seen is Before Sunrise, a tale of a guy and girl meeting and then parting ways before they can embark on a long term relationship. The movie hits on all of the things that are exciting about meeting an attractive member of the opposite sex; all the highs of discovery; all those moments of first connection. It is a brilliant portrayal of a falling in love.

On the other end, we have countless movies about marriages on the rocks--people who have lost their passion, their connection, their love. They look for it elsewhere, seeking--or accidentally finding--that experience of falling in love again.

Very rarely do we see a film where a couple is in love and has been for quite some time.

And I think the reason is simple: We don't know how to show it.

What are the visible manifestations of a mature love? It is no longer impassioned sex. It is not the thrill that comes with a first kiss. It isn't the wedding day. And so filmmakers are left with a bunch of quick by tender kisses, a constant refrain of "we are still so in love," and snapshots of the shared memories these two souls have.

In fact, we have many examples of old couples still in love--their age and consistency the symbol of their love. ...but even these films are filled with flashbacks to their first days of fledgling love.

And now, two music videos with raw confused emotion and heartbreaking encouragement that have little to do with the topic of this post, but they are very interesting explorations of love on a more familial level.

 ~Luke Holzmann
Your Media Production Mentor