Romance

Written and directed by Ed Bowes with Karen Achenbach, Elizabeth Cannon

Camera: Tom Bowes
120 minutes
Black & White
1976

The plot revolves around Tom (Ed Bowes) and his girlfriend Kathleen (Elizabeth Cannon) and what occurs when her mother and androgynous brother (Karen Ashenbach) come to visit. Sexual ambiguity, symbiotic relationships,  and self-identity are all at play here. The last shot finds all the characters by the sea / Structured in long, uncut takes with beautiful camera work by Tom Bowes, the real-time aesthetic of the work is the result of the script, in which much of the action takes place in drifting conversations.

“Romance (1976) is a black and white drama that runs over two hours. The plot revolves around Tom (played by Bowes), his relationship to his girlfriend, Kathleen (Elizabeth Cannon), and what happens when her mother and her androgynous brother, Tommy (Karen Achenbach), come to visit. The central story, however, is one of sexual ambiguity, symbiotic relationships, and self-identity. Tom is receiving transcripts of his innermost thoughts in anonymous letters. His obsession with this has created tension between him and Kathleen, which increases when her disturbed brother disrupts their lives and forms a kind of uneasy triangle with them. Eventually, Tommy loses control and murders a friend of Tom. At this point, the characters decide to go on vacation and arrange by telephone to have the mess cleaned up. The last shot of the tape finds them by the sea, each wandering in his or her own world, as the camera roams. Formally, Romance (with camerawork by Tom Bowes) is a stunning piece of work, especially given the fact that it was shot on ½ inch equipment. It is structured in long, uncut takes, with the camera wandering through each scene in a complex choreography of movement. The real-time aesthetic of the work is also the result of the script, in which much of the action takes place in drifting conversations. On a formal as well as narrative level, the tape is in many ways circular rather than linear.” — Marita Sturken, from the interview ” Television Fictions: An Interview with Ed Bowes
,” May 1986, Afterimage, Vol. 13, No. 10