A montage of disparate excerpts from commercial and independent films, Tracey Moffatt and Gary Hillberg's video collaboration, Love, tells the iconic story of love gone wrong. From its initial enraptured obsession, depicted through recurring scenes of passionate embrace and tender caress, love quickly degenerates into argument, accusation, hatred and finally into violence. Editing together similar scenes from diverse films, the video represents men berating their partners, shouting degrading and insulting abuse. The women then retaliate with ineffectual slaps, slamming doors, throwing objects, and pounding the chests of their impassive lovers before falling, broken, at their feet. In the following sequence of filmic pastiche this cycle of violence escalates causing, now, not just psychological pain but also physical injury as the men punch, throw, cut and beat the women. This violence can only conclude in death – the women set aside futile protestations, resorting to more effective means, using guns to slay their male companions.

The irony of the title now becomes evident. The video, which is intended for screening on a continuous loop – ends with an embracing couple and their final exchange. She asks ‘is this the end’ and he responds ‘it's only the beginning’ signalling the return to the first scenes of love as the video loops back to the start. The video depicts the cycle of interpersonal violence in which love is used to justify and explain the violence itself as well as the repentance and forgiveness that are all too often a precursor to the renewal of violence.