© Love and Shame LLC
I really enjoyed yesterday's screening of Jane Gillooly's new film Suitcase of Love and Shame at the Museum of Fine Arts (it showed earlier in the year at the ICA). With a subtle sound design composed of audio from an adulterous affair in the 1960s Midwest, ambient music, and constructed sounds, the film sinks the viewer/listener into a haunting sea of desire and frustration. The filmmaker's decision to use only authentic photos of the couple - but to withhold their faces - maps this desire and frustration right onto the audience.
Gillooly came across a suitcase full of photos and reel-to-reel tapes this couple had mailed to each other over many years. Jeannie and Tom quite meticulously recorded erotic interludes, romantic chats, and tearful explosions - labeling everything and carefully erasing the most sensitive parts (though they left a lot of juicy material). I couldn't help but marvel at their love affair with the technology of audio recording itself, which seems to have endured and evolved along with their relationship.