‘A Love Song’ (2022) Review: A Cinematic Masterpiece About Lost Love
Max Walker-Silverman’s A Love Song is a quiet and tender romantic movie depicting two childhood friends’ awkward reunion. It’s a beautiful story that focuses on the emotions and feelings of the two actors, Dale Dickey and Wes Studi, as they reminisce over past memories and death under the constellations and amongst the beautiful nature. Walker-Silverman explores the themes of love lost and found, in a bittersweet tale of awkward reunions and brief encounters, which are magnificently portrayed. Not only does their story begin with awkward silences but it turns into moments of yearning with nervous anticipation.
On campsite seven, Faye (Dickey) begins her day by catching and boiling crawfish for breakfast, listening to music on her radio and making coffee, while observing the constellations. She mostly keeps to herself with her trailer and eagerly awaits for the postman on horseback to deliver a letter to her, but it seems like it might be a lost cause. When a couple invites Faye over to their campsite for a drink, she tells them she is waiting for someone — her childhood sweetheart. But as the days grow longer and her food runs out, she contemplates whether this was a huge mistake and just as she is about to leave, Lito (Studi) arrives with his dog and a bouquet of flowers. Their conversations are awkward, but the years have flown by for both of them. They share stories about their childhood and spouses and learn through their evolving friendship what it means to have a purpose in life, after losing so much.
A Love Song is a movie that shows a tender, romantic love that isn’t usually shown in Hollywood. A love story of two old people rekindling their companionship, hoping to bring some newfound spark back into their lives. They observe each other, take pictures, set up a tent together, and an impromptu live performance by Lito makes their initial conversation less awkward. As they sit in their trailers and talk about their spouses with whom they shared their lives and how they died, it’s poetic and heartbreaking at the same time. A love lost and found.
While the movie focuses on their evolving companionship, essentially, A Love Song is about loneliness. Both Faye and Lito are lonely people looking for some purpose — a spark — in their lives. Their reunion is meant to potentially bring back the spark. When the story begins, Faye’s loneliness is shown through Dickey’s grounded performance. She sits in her trailer day after day, watching the cars go by, and at one point, Faye’s excitement over a car driving towards her campsite, and turns into disappointment when she realises it’s not Lito. She’s not alone all of the time though. She has her radio and the couple, but Lito’s arrival brings moments of joy and hope to the story.
A Love Song leaves the viewers with nuanced performances by Dickey and Studi. He is a great counterpart to the fearsome Dickey, who shines in every way possible. It captures a silent, mundane nature and peels the layers of intimacy and loneliness through the perspective of an eager widow hoping to reunite with her lost love. It looks at the wonders of existence, no matter where they are from and who they are, togetherness is an important part of being alive. A Love Song is a well-told, beautifully written movie that is a cinematic masterpiece of love and wonder that quietly whispers monologues of love, life, and grief.
