A Tale of Love

A Tale of Love

Gusztáv Hámos and Astrid Heibach. 
1988, 6:48 min, color, sound

Description

Hámos and German artist Astrid Heibach collaborated on this lyrical work, the text of which is based on a dialogue from Plato's Symposium. The erotic, the philosophical and the ironic are seamlessly interwoven in this interpretive visualization of a dialogue on the nature of love and eros. The body, submerged in water, becomes a metaphor for the stages of initiation into love, evolving from a desire for physical beauty to the eventual appreciation of "the vast ocean of beauty... eternal beauty." Hámos engages in this philosophical dialogue with Heibach, who, posed like the subject of a Caravaggio painting, assumes the role of Socrates.

Director: Maxine Gadd. Speaker: Maxine Gadd. Music: Gregorio Paniagua, Manuel de Falla, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. Technical Assistance: Iain Macnulty. Produced by Western Front Video.