Love Me Or Leave Me Alone Analysis

Love Me Or Leave Me Alone (Duane Hopkins, 2003)

 

Love me or leave me alone (a short film by Duane Hopkins) is a study of the unpredictability and tumult of a teenage relationship as well as the constricting limitations of first love. Set in a sleepy rural village, a young couple engage in a viscous argument that culminates in Steven (James Firkins) spitting in his distraught girlfriend’s face. Hopkins captures this scene of teenage acrimony using a mix of close ups and medium shots that uncomfortably frame the couple’s hormonal rage. The camera distance frequently switches between close and medium throughout this altercation almost mimicking the violent unpredictability of the characters’ relationship. It is not long after Steven expectorates on Jessica’s face that the couple go their separate ways; Steven opting to wallow in teenage angst in a wooden shelter by a football field and Jessica attempting to hitch a ride home. This parting of ways is captured with a wide angle shot to communicate the sudden distance the pair has created between one another. It almost seems ironic that Jessica holds her thumb up whilst attempting to flag down a ride after such a violent argument. This juxta position of images and ideas further highlights the changeability of teenage emotions whilst foregrounding the levity of the fight.

Now alone Steven has time to reflect on his actions and realises that he can’t escape his feelings for Jessica, thus contributing to the theme of the unpredictability of first love. I feel the grey, isolated setting mirrors the characters’ entrapment by their own feelings as neither of them have an efficient means of getting away from the village (Jessica attempting to hitch hike and Steven forced to use a push bike to try and catch up with her). This inadequacy reflects their inability to get away from their own ever-changing and completely overbearing emotions.

 A slave to his affections, Steven decides to chase after Jessica, the tone of the short switches at this point from the previous violence and aggression to a new found feeling desperation as neither character is really prepared to let go of one another. During the ensuing sequence Steven rides a push bike down a trail of country roads, eventually catching up with his distressed girlfriend. Throughout this scene cars fly past the pair in sudden bursts of abrupt diegetic sound, puncturing the uncomfortable silence. I feel that, during this scene, the cars represent established, mature relationships; they ease past, perfectly capable of reaching their destination, whereas Steven and Jessica struggle on foot down the isolated country lanes towards an unclear end.

After uneasy periods of silence the couple begin to talk once more in a run down abandoned structure: a perfect metaphor for the slow decomposition of a relationship. This moment is cross-edited with a sex scene between the pair, once more bringing to our attention the unfathomable emotions experienced in an inexperienced relationship. Not long after their display of intimacy the pair part ways, leaving with an uncertain exchange; they can’t stand to be around each other but at the same time irrevocably need one another. It is this emotional stalemate that Hopkins heavily dwells on in the films final act, focusing firmly on the point that Jessica and Steven are ultimately slaves to their emotions and because of this, have relatively little control over their actions. This bleak hypothesis accounts for the films ambiguous ending in which we see Steven walking off into the pitch black of night, occasionally splashed by pools of phosphorescent light from passing vehicles. Hopkins provides the audience with very little narrative resolution in a final attempt to emphasise the unpredictability of young love, as if to suggest that the couple’s struggle is ongoing and can never be resolved, merely repeated.

Whilst I feel Hopkins managed to obtain two impressive performances from his teenage protagonists the film is not entirely successful at delivering its message due to occasional moments of clunky camerawork and consistently dull compositions which detract from the films meaning. I feel far more subtlety is needed in order for the film to work, as its message is not intricately weaved into the films mise en scene and plot, much rather it is screamed at us by two hormonal teenagers. Whilst this approach does painfully hammer home ideas of teenage angst and unrest which we can all relate to, the film does not leave the viewer with any real sustenance to think about after the fifteen minute running time and as such I feel the message is somewhat lost; buried beneath pervasive profanity and moody performances.