Top Tales of Love You Might Have Missed
Nov 30 '01
The Bottom Line Great love stories that are often overlooked.
If you are tired of the same old boy-meets-girl plot, check these out for a twist on the ever-fascinating subject of love.
Slam (1998)- Directed by Marc Levin. Ray Joshua (Saul Williams) is a poet with no direction who deals marijuana to get by. One night during a transaction, his drug dealer and friend gets gunned down and Ray is arrested. While in jail awaiting trial, two rival gangs pressure him to join. Ray deals with the situation utilizing his poetry. Lauren (Sonja Sohn) volunteers in the prison as an English teacher and is intrigued by Ray. With Lauren’s help, Ray faces up to the challenges in his life and discovers motivation. The best parts: Saul is a real slam poet who has won at the national competition and his poetry in this movie is mesmerizing; Sonja packs her scenes with terrific emotional umph.
Persuasion (1995) - Directed by Roger Mitchell. The story begins in 1813 England with Anne Elliot (Amanda Root) trying to live harmoniously with her selfish and shallow father and sister. Some years ago she rejected a marriage proposal from the poor soldier she loved on advice from a family friend. The soldier (Ciaran Hinds) was crushed and fled to the sea to escape his grief. When he returns as the successful Captain Wentworth, he and Anne must revisit their past and sort out the present to determine their future. The best part: The nuances of every do-they-or-don't-they scene are beautiful, and the actors have real faces and true body language. This is based on one of Jane Austen's last novels, and is said to be the best adaptation of her work thus far.
Always (1989) - Directed by Steven Spielberg. Pete (Richard Dreyfuss) is a great dare-devil pilot who helps put out fires. He and Dorinda (Holly Hunter) are in love but he has difficulty expressing his feelings. Early in the movie he dies and is greeted by angelic personality, Hap (Audrey Hepburn), who assigns him to be the inspiration for the young pilot, Ted (Brad Johnson). When Ted falls for the mourning Dorinda, everyone including Pete's best friend, Al (John Goodman), must learn some things about love. The best parts: it has laughs, love, and action; one of Holly Hunter's best performances.
Dogfight (1991) - Directed by Nancy Savoca. It's 1963 in San Francisco, and Marine Eddie (River Phoenix) and his three best buddies are preparing to leave for Vietnam the next day. They decide to spend their last night of freedom participating in a "dogfight" with other enlisted men. The winner of this competition finds the ugliest girl and displays her at a party. Eddie meets wallflower and wannabe hippie, Rose (Lili Taylor ), at a coffeeshop, sees that she might win him some money, and persuades her to go out with him. By the next morning they have both have had experiences that have changed them. The best parts: Lili and River (in one of his last roles) give against-type performances that are captivating. The plot isn't predictable and the love scenes are as awkward as they are touching.
The Love Letter (1998) (Hallmark Television Movie) - Directed by Dan Curtis . Scotty (Campbell Scott) brings home an antique desk and discovers a letter that was hidden in a secret compartment by Elizabeth (Jennifer Jason Leigh) before the Civil War when the desk was in her bedroom. She addressed the letter to her unknown love and wrote all the deepest longings of her heart. Scotty was touched by the letter and on a whim wrote a reply, bought an antique stamp, and mailed it at a historic post office that would have been around pre-Civil War. Incredibly Elizabeth receives it. She writes a letter back and puts it in the secret compartment. And so begins a correspondence between the two…The best parts: It is kind of cheesy, but the acting and the beautiful letters make up for it; The story leaves enough room for the philosophically minded to wonder what might have caused the connection between these two souls.
Butterflies Are Free (1972) - Directed by Milton Katselas. Now we are taken to San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury in the early 70's where a young blind man, Don (Edward Albert), seeks independence from his overbearing mother (Eileen Heckart). Soon after moving into his new apartment, he meets the kind, beautiful free-spirit, Jill (Goldie Hawn), and they hit it off immediately. Obstacles to their love include Jill's feelings of unworthiness and Don's issues with his mother. The best parts: The acting is wonderful; Eileen Heckart won an oscar for her role. The scene where Don makes dinner for Jill is excruciatingly wonderful to watch.
Naughty Marietta (1935) - [Warning - this is a musical!] The young and beautiful Princess Marie (Jeanette MacDonald) runs away the night before her arranged marriage to a Spanish-grandee. She takes the name of her maid, Marietta, and takes her place on a ship of prospective brides headed for America. On the way the ship is captured by pirates and then rescued by mercenaries led by Captain Warrington (Nelson Eddy). The princess and captain are attracted to one another, but stubbornly play hard-to-get for their own reasons. When Marie's family finds her in America, they must decide how they truly feel and what they want. The best parts: This is the first of Jeanette and Nelson's many movies that they made together. They fell in love in real life and the on-screen chemistry reveals it all. Plus, the music is amazing.
Swept From the Sea (1997) - Directed by Beeban Kidron. This is a very sweet and loving story - not just steam and passion like the cover of the movie suggests (although there is that too). In the late 1800's Yanko Goorall (Vincent Perez) leaves Russia to be educated in the United States but his ship crashes near a small island and he is the only survivor. He wanders into the town, not able to speak English, and everyone believes him to be crazy or mentally deficient. He finds work as a farm laborer where he meets a poor servant (Rachel Weisz) whom everyone believes is a witch. She sees something special in him as does a visiting doctor (Ian McKellen). Yanko comes to love them both, but the love they both feel for him proves threatening for all involved. The best parts: The sweetness and naivete combined with the darkness and intensity of all the characters is compelling to watch.
Jing ke ci qin wang [The Emperor and the Assassin](1999) - Directed by Kaige Chen. It is the 3rd Century BC, and Ying Zheng (Li Xuejian) believes that as the heir to the Kingdom of Qin it is his responsibility to conquer six kingdoms to unite the people against evil forces. He asks his concubine Zhao (Gong Li) whom he has grown up with and loved, to spy on the Han Kingdom. Ying becomes more and more power hungry and believes that he must appear invincible in order to win his wars. He tells Zhao to find the great assassin Jing Ke (Fengyi Zhang), and convince him to visit Ying so that Ying can kill him and show his power. After meeting Jing Ke, Zhao is conflicted in following Ying's orders. The best parts: The costumes and the culture are rich and fascinating; the love here is complicated and subtle (my favorite because that's the way love usually is).
Sweethearts (1996) - Directed by Aleks Horvat. A man(Mitch Rouse) waits for a blind date who has told him she is normal and attractive. It turns out to be Janeane Garafalo as a manic-depressive wearing all black and carrying a gun in her bag. They fight, talk and order drinks from Margaret Cho who is the philosophical bartender. The best parts: Dark, funny, warm, and surprising. This is more intense drama than light comedy, just so ya' know.
And that is the list...if you have read this far - BRAVO! Let me know what you think of the films if you get the opportunity to see any of them. Happy love watching
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