A-List: Romantic Movies
By Josh Spiegel
February 11, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
As hinted, I'm here to help. Today's A-List is targeted to highlight five of the greatest romantic movies ever made. Now, most of these movies are straight from the American Film Institute's list of the most romantic movies ever made, so if you're in need of any further assistance after reading this article, check out their list of the top 100. Of course, that same list does include movies such as King Kong (the original; and yes, I know why it's there...kind of, but the movie is about a giant ape who abducts a woman and goes nuts), but a good portion of the films on the list are truly among the greatest, most poignant, sweet, and heart-rending stories ever captured on the silver screen.
These days, romantic movies are boiled down to the ridiculous; for any proof, just go to see one of this weekend's new releases, Valentine's Day, a movie starring everyone. Seriously. You're in this movie. You might be stuffed into the outtakes during the end credits (to be fair, I have not seen this movie yet, but if there are not outtakes, I will eat my proverbial hat), but you're in it. Every person in the entire world is in this damn movie. Will it tug at your heartstrings, though, or will it only boast the biggest cast? My guess is that only the latter will be achieved. The movies on this list may not feature the It actors of the time, but they are timeless, they are tragic, they are romantic, and they are some of the best.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I recently highlighted Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind during the rundown of my top ten movies of the past decade. Despite the fact that the film is hard to watch, depending on your personal mindset, this movie is timeless and unstuck in time, as it were. Jim Carrey is Joel Barish, a sad sack who meets Clementine (Kate Winslet), a quirky and strange woman who would be considered a patented Onion A.V. Club manic pixie dream girl if she weren't so maddeningly flaky, flighty, and harsh. Even though they both have flaws, and they both can snipe at each other with supremely unique viciousness, Joel and Clementine love each other. This becomes an issue when Clementine endeavors to have all memories of Joel and their relationship literally erased from her memory. Even more so, things get weirder when Joel decides, out of spite, to do the same.
Written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is not only one of the best-written films in years (no wonder that Kaufman, in a rare occasion of the Academy getting things right, won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay), but it is one of the most heartfelt and true. Sure, there's a potentially insane and ridiculous concept, but the idea of losing the memories of a recently ended relationship may seem like the right idea in the moment, but what cost is it to lose the good memories? Every relationship has, at its core, happiness (or, every relationship should). If a relationship ends, the happiness doesn't disappear any more than the low moments. The nostalgia and realism at play in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind comes to a head with this point: even if you lose those memories, you may be stuck always running into that person you broke up with. You may be destined to endure the lows to get the happiness. Though not a purely happy film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is purely romantic.
Singin' In The Rain
Everyone remembers the scene. You do, and so does everyone you know. Even if you've never seen Singin' In The Rain (and if you haven't - as soon as you finish reading this article, watch it now, seriously), you know the scene that gives the movie its title. Gene Kelly sings a song of joy and wonder, as torrential rains threaten to flood the streets of Hollywood. The images are among the most iconic Hollywood has ever offered the movie-going public. But what is so often ignored is why Kelly's character is singing in the rain. Yes, he's doing it all for the love of a charming and adorable woman who loves him as much as he loves her. While Singin' In The Rain is widely and appropriately considered the best musical ever, and is a funny, lighthearted, yet somewhat biting satire of old Hollywood, it's also extremely romantic.
The main plot revolves around Don Lockwood (Kelly), a silent-film star dealing with the transition from silent movies to making talking pictures. One night, he meets Kathy Selden (a very young Debbie Reynolds), a fan who'd like to be seen as somebody far too snooty for movies, and ends up falling in love with her, even though he's really supposed to be involved with his screechy-voiced co-star, Lina Lamont. Once the movie Don's starring in gets made into a talking picture, he and Kathy turn it into a musical, thus inspiring the title song. There's too much greatness in this movie to cover, but the music is catchy, the dances are dazzling, the humor is still funny, despite being nearly 60 years old, and the chemistry between Kelly, Reynolds, and Donald O'Connor (as Lockwood's best friend) is infectious. Romance has never been more enjoyable.
Casablanca
Again, here's a movie that you need to see if you haven't. Who hasn't seen Casablanca? Well, of course, a lot of people haven't. Still, this movie is among the most well-known, as it's become the stuff of pop culture lore. "Here's looking at you, kid." "Play it again, Sam." (A line that, weirdly enough, isn't actually spoken in the movie) "Round up the usual suspects." "This could be the start of a beautiful friendship." Potentially the greatest studio picture of all time, Casablanca is also achingly, realistically romantic. Humphrey Bogart is Rick, the owner of a swanky club in the Middle East during World War II. Ingrid Bergman is Ilsa, his ex-lover who stumbles back into his life when her husband, a freedom fighter, needs safe passage away from the Nazis. Will Rick help Ilsa out? Will their dormant romance be rekindled? Will Bogart look dashing yet rumpled throughout the movie? Is the Pope Catholic?
Casablanca presents one of the most thrillingly exciting stories, and takes place in a world that so many of us would love to have been a part of. Is the movie's world real? Well, no, but the world of film noir, the world of Hollywood movies from the 1940s and 1950s isn't real; that doesn't mean it's not enticing. Rick may be a tragic hero, and his romance with Ilsa may not play out the way we all wish it would, but it's precisely for those reasons that the movie has resonance. Would Casablanca be a classic if Rick and Ilsa get together at the end? No. We'd still remember it (the rest of the movie is just as entertaining as the finale), but it wouldn't be nearly as poignant, nearly as moving. Tragedy is often tied to romance, and in Casablanca, it must be present. This movie is so romantic precisely because it makes us sad.
City Lights
Oh, this movie. If you're looking for a movie that will make you laugh, and then make you cry because of how happy and moved you can feel, the movie you need to see is City Lights. Casablanca may make you cry at the end because of it being sad, but City Lights will do the same because of the joy you feel, the joy you share with the lead. This 1931 silent comedy classic stars Charlie Chaplin as the Tramp, the iconic character he played throughout his career. The Tramp, in City Lights, encounters a beautiful blind girl in his travails and immediately falls in love with her. She, in kind, is charmed by the Tramp, if only because he is unfailingly kind to her. Despite his impoverished nature, the Tramp decides to raise money for the blind girl to get a surgery to get her sight back.
In doing so, he moves forward in a series of vignettes, all meant to show off Chaplin's amazing physical skills as a comedian. There's no question that Chaplin was a gifted humorist, a brilliant actor, but he also manages to move us inexorably. I will not ruin the ending of City Lights to you, as I went in unspoiled and found that, by the end of the movie, the room I was in had gotten surprisingly dusty. Very strange. Still, most people will recognize shades of the end of City Lights in the recent Pixar film WALL-E, which was just as successful at making me all dusty at its end. City Lights is more poignant and classic than WALL-E; if a movie can work as well in the 21st century as it did more than 75 years ago, it can only be considered one of the great films. You may be turned off by silent movies, but you'll laugh at City Lights, and then you'll cry.
The Princess Bride
Oh, how could I not put this movie on the list? The Princess Bride is the most insanely packed movie. How can a movie that's shorter than two hours have action, adventure, intrigue, comedy, and a truly successful romance? How can that same movie also be structured with a storytelling device that's as meta as most movies ever get? Yes, it's The Princess Bride; granted, you have probably seen this movie, as it's managed to receive a weird cult status since its release in 1987. As told to a young Fred Savage by Peter Falk, The Princess Bride is about the undying romance between Westley, a simple farm boy, and Buttercup, the most beautiful girl in all the land. Westley is taken prisoner by an evil pirate, however, and Buttercup, after years of mourning, is set to be wed to the evil Prince. Will Westley return? Will - oh, now, do I need to ask these questions? We all know, because we've all seen The Princess Bride.
What makes The Princess Bride so romantic? What helps, for me, is its self-awareness. As swooning as the romance between Westley and Buttercup is, there's plenty of humor sandwiched in the middle, from the narrative breaks between Savage and Falk, to the supporting characters played by Billy Crystal, Mandy Patinkin, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, and Andre the Giant. If you've never seen The Princess Bride, I can only hope it has nothing to do with the fact that you're not interested in a movie with man-eating eels, classic swordfights, magical potions, giants, evil princes, vocally-impaired clergymen, and meta humor. If it does...I feel very bad for you. The Princess Bride is the epitome of the modern romance film.