Could This Be Love

Could This Be Love? (1973) was the third short that was directed by Abel Ferrara. This was filmed in color and he has access to a real actor and more motivated performers. Heavily influenced by the films of Paul Morrisey and Andy Warhol (but without the biting satire), COULD THIS BE LOVE is more of a bourgeois look at romance and life amongst the upper crust of society. But the very low production values and the uninspired acting of the only real actor in the script make this film a pedestrian effort. Mr. Ferrara used several cinematographers during the shooting of this short and it shows. To enjoy this short you have to watch it with the director's commentary.

Recommended to show how much Abel Ferrara progressed as a film maker. He also wasn't pleased with shooting about a subject he really doesn't care for. A 180 from what he would be doing a few years later.

Could This Be Love (1973)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Mildly interesting short from Ferrara was his third film as director and his first shot in color with real actors. The film tells the story of two women (Nadia Von Loewenstein, Dee Dee Rescher) who go to the city and pick up a female hooker (Cassie Holtzberg) who they bring home for fun. Later that night they take her to a party with their friends where some attitudes are going to change. This 28-minute short isn't the greatest thing in the world but there are enough interesting moments to make it worth watching once. I think what I enjoyed most was some of the earlier scenes with the two friends just sitting around talking about a wide range of subjects including sex of course. I thought Ferrara did a nice job at capturing a certain atmosphere that comes across and it also seems he's meaning these people to be the Andy Warhol type. There's a lot of culture jabs throughout the movie but the pacing is extremely good for this type of film and the subject matter is handled quite well. The acting isn't the greatest around but I found Holtzberg to be good as well as Rescher.