Classic tales of romance span centuries, taking place everywhere and anywhere. Arthurian England, Mount Olympus, Ancient Egypt. Now, in filmmaker Quistgaard’s new film Radical Hardcore, it’s a carpet store.

“I’m a big fan of carpets and had been hanging around carpet shops for a while, knowing I liked them but not knowing how to turn, what I guess is a niche interest, into something more,” says Quistgaard. “Then I was in the second of Slough’s two Carpet Rights, as you drive east to west, and just thought: this would be a nice place to fall in love.”

Radical Hardcore is soundtracked by Berlin-based producer Objekt, providing escalating, evocative techno to set the romantic mood. “I love absurdist humour: Barthelme, Flann O Brien, George Saunders are huge in my world. But for me, it works best if a push/pull is in play, so at times you’re outside the romance but inside the comedy, and vice versa,” explains Quistgaard. “Radical Hardcore was always written with the mantra ‘Wikipedia on the dancefloor’ in mind, and I’d been listening to ‘Ratchet’ for a while thinking its hypnotic rhythm versus a general abrasiveness had the power to connect with the sense of the absurd I was after.”

In this absurdist take on a romantic music video, love is all you need to be happy among the purple nylon and textured yarn swatches. 

Keep up with Quistgaard here