Romantic Movies
Feb. 13th, 2006 07:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosI was at my computer a few evenings ago when I heard the gorgeous melodies of the soundtrack to Lady Jane drifting down from upstairs.
I don’t watch it as much as I used to, but Lady Jane is one of my all-time favorite movies, and as I let the music carry me back into the romantic story, I thought about Valentine’s Day coming up, and how I’m feeling open to love again, and that the top movies on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Greatest Love Stories list end with the main characters not together.
In order, the top four are: Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, West Side Story, and Roman Holiday. My impression is that #5, An Affair to Remember, also does not end with a happily ever after, but I could be wrong. Then comes The Way We Were and Dr. Zhivago. At #8 – It’s a Wonderful Life – there is a happy ending. (The complete list is here.)
For no other reason than that Lady Jane has me thinking about it, here are my top romantic movies, which I'm defining as those that make me believe in love.
As I wrote these, I realized that most of my favorite romantic movies involve transformation. Whether it’s Guildford and Jane breaking out of their narrow perspectives on the world, or other characters healing from heartbreak, these movies show that love is more than just a romantic or passionate collision.
(After Lady Jane, all are linked to IMDB for complete details.)
Lady Jane: Two teenagers are forced to marry to fulfill their parents’ political ambitions, and fifteen year-old Lady Jane Grey finds herself on the throne of England after the death of Henry VIII’s only son Edward. Her famously short nine-day reign ends tragically, but she and her apparently ill-matched husband find a love that transforms them both.
American Dreamer. Suburban housewife Cathy Palmer applies her romantic imagination and writing talent to a contest and ends up winning a trip to Paris, where she is struck by a car and wakes up believing herself to be Rebecca Ryan, the heroine of her favorite romantic thrillers. In the course of her adventures she turns the life of Alan MacMahon, son of the author of the Rebecca Ryan books, upside down. But in living out her wildest fantasies, she finds a love that survives into her everyday life.
When I was in my teens and twenties, Lady Jane and American Dreamer were two of the three ‘litmus test’ movies my sister and I used on new romances. If a guy didn’t ‘get’ them, we knew the relationship was doomed.
The Philadelphia Story. Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant prove that true love conquers all, even arrogance, perfectionism, and the charms of Jimmy Stewart. On the eve of her second marriage, Tracy Lord’s ex-husband shows up to protect the family from blackmail and win her back.
Much Ado About Nothing In a style not unlike Hepburn and Tracy in The Philadelphia Story, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson play witty lovers who have hurt each other badly in the past but now find their way back to each other.
Superman II. The scene in which Clark Kent stumbles into a fireplace and ends up confessing both his secret identity and his love for Lois is lovely. From there we get his surrender of his powers, the consequences, and his decision to erase Lois's memory to remove her unhappiness. Even though I don’t actually approve of his unilateral decision-making, there is so much tenderness there, and such a sense of sacrifice on his part that I’m able to accept it.
Moulin Rouge! The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. I don’t think I’ve seen an actor put his heart in his face and eyes more than Ewan MacGregor does in this movie, especially when he’s singing. The power of his love is so great that it convinces even a jaded and disappointed courtesan to believe to open her heart.
Peter Pan What I love about this movie is the near-perfect way it captures what it’s like to be a young girl discovering love – as well as acknowledging the appeal of the darker fascination offered by Hook.
I don’t watch it as much as I used to, but Lady Jane is one of my all-time favorite movies, and as I let the music carry me back into the romantic story, I thought about Valentine’s Day coming up, and how I’m feeling open to love again, and that the top movies on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 Greatest Love Stories list end with the main characters not together.
In order, the top four are: Casablanca, Gone With the Wind, West Side Story, and Roman Holiday. My impression is that #5, An Affair to Remember, also does not end with a happily ever after, but I could be wrong. Then comes The Way We Were and Dr. Zhivago. At #8 – It’s a Wonderful Life – there is a happy ending. (The complete list is here.)
For no other reason than that Lady Jane has me thinking about it, here are my top romantic movies, which I'm defining as those that make me believe in love.
As I wrote these, I realized that most of my favorite romantic movies involve transformation. Whether it’s Guildford and Jane breaking out of their narrow perspectives on the world, or other characters healing from heartbreak, these movies show that love is more than just a romantic or passionate collision.
(After Lady Jane, all are linked to IMDB for complete details.)
Lady Jane: Two teenagers are forced to marry to fulfill their parents’ political ambitions, and fifteen year-old Lady Jane Grey finds herself on the throne of England after the death of Henry VIII’s only son Edward. Her famously short nine-day reign ends tragically, but she and her apparently ill-matched husband find a love that transforms them both.
American Dreamer. Suburban housewife Cathy Palmer applies her romantic imagination and writing talent to a contest and ends up winning a trip to Paris, where she is struck by a car and wakes up believing herself to be Rebecca Ryan, the heroine of her favorite romantic thrillers. In the course of her adventures she turns the life of Alan MacMahon, son of the author of the Rebecca Ryan books, upside down. But in living out her wildest fantasies, she finds a love that survives into her everyday life.
When I was in my teens and twenties, Lady Jane and American Dreamer were two of the three ‘litmus test’ movies my sister and I used on new romances. If a guy didn’t ‘get’ them, we knew the relationship was doomed.
The Philadelphia Story. Katherine Hepburn and Cary Grant prove that true love conquers all, even arrogance, perfectionism, and the charms of Jimmy Stewart. On the eve of her second marriage, Tracy Lord’s ex-husband shows up to protect the family from blackmail and win her back.
Much Ado About Nothing In a style not unlike Hepburn and Tracy in The Philadelphia Story, Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson play witty lovers who have hurt each other badly in the past but now find their way back to each other.
Superman II. The scene in which Clark Kent stumbles into a fireplace and ends up confessing both his secret identity and his love for Lois is lovely. From there we get his surrender of his powers, the consequences, and his decision to erase Lois's memory to remove her unhappiness. Even though I don’t actually approve of his unilateral decision-making, there is so much tenderness there, and such a sense of sacrifice on his part that I’m able to accept it.
Moulin Rouge! The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. I don’t think I’ve seen an actor put his heart in his face and eyes more than Ewan MacGregor does in this movie, especially when he’s singing. The power of his love is so great that it convinces even a jaded and disappointed courtesan to believe to open her heart.
Peter Pan What I love about this movie is the near-perfect way it captures what it’s like to be a young girl discovering love – as well as acknowledging the appeal of the darker fascination offered by Hook.
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Date: 2006-02-14 09:55 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-14 10:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-02-14 05:35 pm (UTC)I haven't seen Superman II in ages, thank you for the reminder of those sweet scenes. And I really must watch Peter Pan again. I adore how much Wendy is a subject, not an object, in that version. And the sensuality, and Hook's deliciousness... well, mmmmm.