In the spirit of Valentine's day approaching, in today's blog post I will be sharing with you some of my favourite romantic films tailored to all tastes and interpretations of
love. Whether you are in a mood for a light romantic comedy or are ready to bawl your eyes out, look no further - you will find it here.
P.S. There are a lot of beautiful films that I watched in my time, as I can't feature them all in-depth, I will try and leave a suggestion for 'Similar' film/s and genre that bring much the same vibe.
He's Just Not That Into You (2009)
[Love Actually, Valentine's Day]
I really want to start off with something light, and there is no better company for your Galentine's evening than a series of entertaining love stories. The five Baltimore lovers, who just like you are in their 20's and 30's, navigating their way through the complexities of modern relationships.
The title of the film speaks for itself, really. Most of all I really appreciate the short anecdotes inserted in between the scenes that word for word repeat the excuses we often tell ourselves or advise others, when they tell us that they have been pied. "You are too pretty and too awesome. He can't handle it.", "He's not asking you out because he's intimidated by your professional success", "Trust me. It's because he's never had a serious relationship". When in reality we hate to admit that.. He's Just Not That Into You.
Not to mention the film has a star cast featuring: Jennifer Aniston, Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Ginnifer Goodwin, Ben Affleck, Justin Long and Bradley Cooper.
La La Land (2016)
[The Greatest Showman]
I said that there is going to be a variety of genres for all tastes, and musicals are no exception! Besides, is it really a Valentine's season if you don't watch at least one film featuring Ryan Gosling? There really isn't a musical quite like this. I must confess, when I was watching it at the cinema, the first half hour of the film I was thinking "this is too Hollywood for me". The story line seemed too cliche and predictable, Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is a struggling jazz pianist and Mia (Emma Stone) is an aspiring actress, both trying to jump-start a career in a spotlight of Hollywood fame. Things happen in the middle, success, failure, financial struggles.. Wait until the end. No seriously, do, so we could talk about it.
Personally, I did not foresee the ending to go the way it did but I am glad that the director Damien Chazelle chose to go in this direction. The ending made a musical, in my eyes, go from a Hollywood cliche to a real life story accompanied by some jazz, singing and dancing.
Before Sunrise (1995)
> Before Sunset (2004)
> Before Midnight (2013)
[The Dreamers, Waking Life]
Before Sunrise (1995) is a first part to a trilogy that captures love over time. The trilogy is filmed over the course of 19 years during which the natural ageing on screen intensifies the sense of lived-in experience. We first meet Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy) as two young strangers heating it off on the train bound to Vienna. They initiate a spontaneous decision to spend an evening together, walking around the town of Vienna and making conversation about their take on love, life, break-ups and relationship from a perspective of young adults in their twenties. You really have to watch all three films in order to grasp the bigger picture and meaning that love carries through different stages in our lives. I hold this film so near and dear to my heart, I hope you get to connect with the characters as much as I did.
The films are directed by one of my all time favourites directors, Richard Linklater, also known for his works Waking Life, Boyhood, Dazed and Confused (to name a few).
Carol (2015)
[ Call Me by Your Name]
The ever so elegant, alluring and sophisticated Cate Blanchett plays, Carol, a suburban housewife, trapped in a marriage as she must hide the romantic interest she has for women. Her co-star, Rooney Mara, portrays a lonely young woman, working in a toy store and looking for her chance to set her career as a theatre set designer. Together, they tell a love story of two women, attempting to escape from the social prejudice and judgement of homosexuality in 1950's.
The film Carol is based on the romantic novel by Patricia Highsmith. It was first published in 1952 under the title "The Price of Salt" pitching a true story from Highsmith's life. Highsmith - was already known as a suspense writer - published a novel under a pseudonym, Claire Morgan, to avoid being tagged as a "lesbian book writer", which consequently would 'discredit' her previous achievements in literature.
The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004)
[The Notebook, Vanilla Sky, 500 Days of Summer ]
Get your tissues ready. Not going to lie, originally I intended to mention "The Notebook" but it felt like cheating featuring two Ryan Gosling films in one blogpost. I went for another one of my all time favourites.
If you could erase a memory of a person or an event from your life, would you? The Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind explores the intricacy of relationships and the pain of loss. After a painful break-up, Clementine (Kate Winslet) undergoes a procedure to erase her ex-boyfriend Joel (Jim Carey) from her mind. When Joel finds out that Clementine went to the extremes to forget their relationship, he too signs up to do the same. However, during the erasure procedure, Joel is reminded of the happy memories that he and Clementine shared together and attempts to hide those far into his conscious in order to save them. This is as much as I can share without giving it all away.
As always, I hope you liked today's blog post. And I look forward to hearing from you - have you already seen these films? Which ones did you like and which ones you did not? Share your recommendations down below!
All love,
S.
