Loved Up – The Dream of Love (2005)

An intimate portrait of the family of filmmaker Lawrence Johnston, who discuss what love means to them individually and as a family.

The Dream of Love develops slowly from an intimate discussion between family members on the meaning of love, into how the family coped with an abusive father. The siblings speak of how, when they were children, their father abused their mother, and the consequence of this experience. An incredibly honest conversation takes place between Johnston and the rest of his immediate family, who are reunited for the first time in their adult life for the purpose of making this film. It is interesting to note the different intergenerational perspectives of love, and that ideas of romantic love are largely absent as a concept for the older members of the family. Johnston’s other work includes Eternity (1994), and Life (1996).