Best movie love stories: Love is a many-rendered thing
Feb 20 '08 (Updated Mar 15 '08)
The Bottom Line To some, love is all-powerful. To others, it is fiction, window dressing we put on a biological imperative to make it look nice. This list is for the first group.
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Love is everything. Movies about love are about everything.
On-screen renderings of love show us pairs in love with each other, and families sharing love among themselves. The movies reflect our loves for friends, pets, countries and our planet.
Sometimes it is the love of power or money that we see on the big screen. More nobly, sometimes we see our love of justice.
Love can take us by surprise. It can make us give up our best interests so we can serve instead the interests of those we love.
There are all kinds of movies about all kinds of love. The best are about more than one kind because we can feel different loves at the same time.
1) THE LOVE OF FAMILY
DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST (1991)
writer/director: Julie Dash
The photography is enchanting. It glows with the enticement of the most alluring travel brochures that call us to exotic, wondrous places. The entrancing cinematography serves a most affecting movie.
It is about an extended family at the beginning of the 20th century who, after generations making indigo dye on the islands off the sea coasts of South Carolina and Georgia, must give up their homeland and move to the mainland United States. They come together for a bittersweet celebration in which they honor their treasured pasts and look forward to uncertain futures. They reminisce and argue, laugh and resist tears.
Some of the dialogue is in Gullah, a blend of English and various African languages. There are parts that are difficult to follow. It does not matter. The family speaks clearly the languages of the heart.
Other great movies about familial love
The Grapes of Wrath (1940)
The Joads have little in this masterful adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, but they have each other. They need one another to survive the worst of the Great Depression.
In America (2002)
New York City has some elements of a fantastic wonderland in this warm and heartwarming story of a family's devotion to each other. It is the parts that aren't like a wonderland that test their resilience.
The Straight Story (1999)
Director David Lynch abandons his trademark weirdness for a moving, never sentimental story based on the true experiences of a man who road a lawn mower hundreds of miles from Iowa to Wisconsin to visit his dying brother. Richard Farnsworth embodies a deep devotion to his family that is touching and inspiring.
2) THE LOVE OF COUNTRY
A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS (1966)
writer: Robert Bolt, adapting his play
director: Fred Zinnemann
Academy Awards: Won six for best picture, actor (Paul Scofield), director, screenplay, cinematography and costumes. Nominated for supporting acting prizes for Wendy Hiller and Robert Shaw.
Reviewed on Epinions by Ed.Williamson: "A great story, superb acting, and a great education all are a part of this film."
Sometimes doing what is right for your country means defying the leader who, for the time being, controls the land. As Sir Thomas More, Paul Scofield radiates certainty as he rejects orders from Great Britain's King Henry VIII (Robert Shaw) that he knows are based more on the king's selfish whims than concern for the good of the nation. More holds convictions he honors despite their terrible price.
Other great movies about patriotism
Ying xiong (aka Hero, 2002)
The cinematography dazzles and the special effects astonish but they would seem like empty tricks without a strong story. Hero has one. As assassin intends to kill an emperor in feudal Japan to stop the monarch's brutal consolidation of several autonomous regions into a nation he can rule ruthlessly. The assassin knows what the emperor does not: unification at any price costs too much.
Meet John Doe (1941)
Like Frank Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), this is a rousing testament to the decency of people and their ability to triumph over powerful interests seeking to exploit the nation. Barbara Stanwyck's cynicism meets its match in Gary Cooper's idealism, which is fueled by legions of ordinary citizens who come to appreciate that no one is ordinary. We come to appreciate it too.
Casablanca (1942)
In one of the most cherished of all movies, Humphrey Bogart plays a man who growls, "I stick my neck out for nobody." When the love of his life (Ingrid Bergman) returns after a long absence, the fates of several nations will be shaped by whether he is willing to stick his neck out for something after all. The brilliantly complicated ending leaves us both satisfied and wishing it could have been otherwise.
3) THE LOVE OF THE PLANET
THE JACQUES COUSTEAU ODYSSEY (1978)
writer/director: Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques Cousteau opened a new world when he co-invented scuba gear. Then he plunged in and took us with him on his explorations of oceans and rivers that inspired two Academy Award-winning documentaries, several books and many television programs. This collection of 12 episodes of one of those series reflects Cousteau's abiding commitment to foster in others the love of the waters and their wonders that energized him.
Was there an Atlantis? How do we remove toxic waste safely from sunken vessels? How do mammals survive in the coldest depths? Cousteau investigates these and other questions with vivid photography and infectious awe.
Other great movies about loving Earth
Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988)
Dian Fossey knew that her advocacy on behalf of threatened gorillas would antagonize poachers who might kill her. She loved the gorillas enough to take the risk. Sigourney Weaver brings Fossey to life in a portrayal as unwavering and passionate as the woman who inspired it.
Silent Running (1972)
This extraordinary science fiction has Huey, Louie and Dewey, three little robots that are forebears of R2-D2. It also has a haunted Bruce Dern as the caretaker of a spacecraft that carries vestiges of the plant and animal life that will be needed to revitalize Earth after an environmental catastrophe. Then officials on Earth order him to destroy the priceless cargo. Anyone who has ever enjoyed the tickle of grass on bare feet or savored the shade of a tall tree on a hot day will empathize as Dern faces a terrible choice.
Superman II (1980)
Superman has saved Earth from destruction and rescued kittens from trees. Now, for the sake of his adopted planet, he must meet his most wrenching dilemma. He has given up his otherworldly abilities so that he and Lois Lane can finally enjoy the intimacy they crave. When villains from his native planet Krypton threaten Earth, will Superman be able to sacrifice happiness to reclaim the superpowers he needs to challenge the bad guys? Whatever he chooses, the Man of Steel will have to carry that heaviest of burdens, a broken heart.
4) THE LOVE OF ONE'S JOB
THE STUNT MAN (1980)
writer: Lawrence B. Marchus and Richard Rush, adapting a novel by Paul Brodeur
director: Richard Rush
In a magnificent tour-de-force, Peter O'Toole plays a director who will do anything to make a good movie. When a stunt goes wrong and a driver is drowned, the director takes advantage of an escaped prisoner and has him substitute for the dead man. The director is sleeping with his leading lady but he subjects her to a cruel betrayal so that her shame in a scene will look real. The movie is a cleverly constructed and very funny look at moviemaking's dark side. O'Toole creates a character who, despite his rampant egomania and narcissism, is charming. Like his cast and crew, viewers can't help but be captivated even as we are repelled.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
Robin Williams is a teacher whose passion for educating leads him to try all manner of unorthodox methods to get through to his students. The administrators at the boarding school for boys do not approve. When they reprimand him, his students stage an impromptu tribute that can make one cry with joy that a teacher's love can be returned.
Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Meryl Streep is a fashion editor. She has family and friends but it is her work that defines her. Her monomania drives the movie as all the other characters scurry around to please her and she can't be bothered to notice. Her portrayal is engagingly over the top and it sparks many amusing situations and crackling dialogue, but Streep signals subtly that she knows what she has had to give up for her work and that maybe, just maybe, she has a moment of regret every once in a while.
Breaking the Code (1996)
Derek Jacobi brings mathematician Alan Turing to life with memorable conviction. Turing loved his work, especially when it helped crack the codes the Nazis used during WWII and contributed to the Allies' triumph. The grateful British government loved him too, but only until his homosexuality became known. Jacobi makes us feel Turing's passion for his belief that honesty about his orientation should not cost him job, and his anguish when it appears that it will.
5) THE LOVE OF FRIENDS
BRIAN'S SONG (1971)
writer: William Blinn, adapting the book I Am Third by Gale Sayers and Al Silverman
director: Buzz Kulik
Reviewed on Epinions by susidee34: "It is the story of looking into the hearts and souls of man and liking what you find there."
Men who would never allow themselves a tear at a loved one's autopsy, the birth of their child or when they're hit in the testicles by a hammer will unashamedly admit to sobbing like babies during this testament to the friendships of two football players, one of whom is dying of cancer. Billy Dee Williams and James Caan are well matched and give terrific performances in which each brings out the other's best. When it ends, Williams' Gayle Sayers proclaims his love for Brian Piccolo and urges his audience to love share that love. We already do.
Other great movies about friendly love
Parting Glances (1986)
He is a cranky cynic, full of sarcasm and scathing observations about the world and its many injustices. He's played by Steve Buscemi with engaging anarchic energy and so he also is the kind of person most people would feel lucky to have for a friend. One of his friends is caught up in the whirl of preparing for his boyfriend's imminent departure for an extended business trip in Africa, but he takes time to tell Buscemi's character that even though they have never been lovers, he is the love of his life.
Test Pilot (1938)
Spencer Tracy's character devotes himself to making sure the pilot played by Clark Gable succeeds despite his frequent irresponsibility and occasional recklessness. He is jealous when the pilot falls for a woman. Tracy even blows Gable good-luck kisses every time he is about to take off. It is possible to suppose that Tracy's character is gay, but it wouldn't matter if he were. His powerful affection, whatever its motivation, drives a terrific movie about the love of adventure, a love between a man and a woman and a steadfast love between two friends.
Thelma and Louise (1991)
Events force two friends to go on the run from the police. They discover their friendship is deeper than they knew. Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are a pair so interesting and likable that one does not have to condone their actions to end up rooting for them.
6) THE LOVE OF JUSTICE
JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961)
writer: Abby Mann
director: Stanley Kramer
Won Academy Awards for Best Actor (Maximillian Schell) and screenplay. Nine other nominations, including director and picture.
Reviewed on Epinions by DavidMac: "exciting to watch and to listen to. . . . this movie is also a good showcase for showing us how evil the Nazi regime really was, and also a showcase for how a Hollywood movie ought to be."
In a movie packed with powerful performances by an all-star cast (including Marlene Dietrich, Judy Garland, Richard Widmark, Montgomery Clift and a pre-Star Trek William Shatner), Spencer Tracy and Burt Lancaster stand out. They are lawyers. One is a German on trial for WWII war crimes and the other is his judge. Both men believe they are motivated by their reverence for the law. With a few quietly explosive words, one of them reveals that the other has been clinging desperately to a deadly delusion.
Other great movies about loving the law
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Gregory Peck embodies good as a decent man devoted to his children and to his faith in the power of laws. The odds are so stacked against his client, a black man accused of sexually assaulting a white woman, that viewers can despair that justice will prevail. Peck's Atticus Finch never does.
Deadline - U.S.A. (1952)
Humphrey Bogart is a newspaper editor intoxicated by how his work can bring down criminals. He exults as he tells one seemingly untouchable mobster, "That's the power of the press, and there's nothing you can do about it."
Sin City (2005)
This visually stunning adaptation of Frank Miller's grim graphic novels plunges us into a world where everything is for sale and human life is cheap. Nonetheless, a detective with a dangerous heart condition and a few bold others dare to defy the bad guys on behalf of the pervasively powerless good people.
7) THE LOVE OF POWER
TO PLAY THE KING (1993)
writer: Andrew Davies, adapting the novel by Michael Dobbs
director: Paul Seed
Power is life itself to Francis Urquhart, the British prime minister in this exceptional middle chapter of a television trilogy. Ian Richardson rivets as a man whose innate grasp of political ruthlessness would have unsettled Niccolo Machiavelli. Richardson's F.U. (as he is called by friends and foes) is intelligent, graceful and instinctively ambitious. He is a refined reptile, a cold and calculating manipulator of everyone he meets. And he gets a beautiful young mistress, and perhaps another, so maybe power is the ultimate aphrodisiac.
To Play the King is the strongest in the trilogy. The series starts well with House of Cards (1990) and ends with The Final Cut (1995), from which writer Michael Dobbs demanded his name be removed. That concluding chapter shows that Urquhart's wife loves power even more than he does.
Other great movies about loving power
The Godfather (1972)
Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece is fueled by the striking power of Marlon Brando's and Al Pacino's star performances. Brando's mob boss has a reverence for family that his son seems to share, at first. When the father dies, his son is the initially reluctant heir to his father's underworld empire. Although he has responsibilities both to his wife and children and to his "family" of criminal associates, Pacino makes clear where his character's overriding allegiances lie. When he literally closes a door, he makes no sound but he shatters with the force of a shotgun blast.
Sweet Smell of Success (1957)
Burt Lancaster is a powerful newspaper gossip columnist whose confidence in himself is matched only by his contempt for everyone else, including the sister he claims to love. Tony Curtis is a sycophant who needs the columnist's attention more than he needs self-respect.
Kumonosu jo (aka Throne of Blood, 1957)
Director Akira Kurosawa takes the familiar story of Shakespeare's Macbeth and makes it burst with new power. As the woman who would make her husband an emperor so she could wield imperial power, Isuzu Yamada is chilling. She exudes powerful coldbloodedness and ethereal menace.
8) LOVE CAN SURPRISE US
THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
writer: William Faulkner, adapting Raymond Chandler's novel
director: Howard Hawks
Reviewed on Epinions by George_Chabot: ". . . a stylish, atmospheric crime thriller that confirmed Humphrey Bogart as the king of film noir."
Lauren Bacall is a privileged woman of what used to be called high society. Humphrey Bogart is a brash, unprivileged private detective. She is irritated by her attraction to him. At least she is at first.
Movie fans can argue whether this or To Have and Have Not (1944) better showcases the chemistry between Bogart and Bacall. It does not have to be an either/or. In both movies, every sentence they speak to each other is a seduction. They seduce us too.
Other great movies about unexpected love:
Korol Lir (aka King Lear, 1971)
Other versions highlight powerful performances by James Earl Jones in 1974 and Laurence Olivier in 1983.
In Boris Pasternak's Russian translation of Shakespeare's play, Juri Jarvet is explosive and heartbreaking as a king undone by his inability to recognize which of his daughters loves him. He may already have slipped into madness when, or if, he realizes his mistake.
All About Eve (1950)
A theatre critic whose every word is acid wants a scheming aspiring actress whose manipulations he is alone in recognizing. He calls the attraction "the height of improbability." It helps drive a movie that in every way deserves its widespread critical acclaim for its wit, malice and even some unexpected warmth.
Love and Death on Long Island (1997)
A man is surprised to discover that in middle age he is acting like a lovesick teenager. He is dumbstruck that his affections are engaged by a young man, the star of an adolescent babes-cavorting-on-the-beach-in-bikinis comedy he saw only by accident. Most of us have nothing in common with this man, but John Hurt's compelling performance makes us empathize with him, and also fear for him.
9) SELF-SACRIFICING LOVE
CYRANO DE BERGERAC (1990)
writers: Jean-Claude Carriere and Jean-Paul Rappeneau, adapting Edmond Rostand's play
director: Jean-Paul Rappeneau
Reviewed on Epinions by metalluk: "A perfect blend of romance and comedy, this quintessentially French masterpiece has given humanity three of its most eternal and archetypal characters."
He thinks his unusually long nose makes him too ugly to be loved. He gives the woman he loves no chance to prove he might be wrong. Instead, he helps another man romance her by giving his eloquent and heartfelt words for the man to pass off as his own. The two should be rivals, but Cyrano has surrendered after losing in his heart and head the only battle he cannot bring himself to fight.
Gerard Depardieu brings lively good spirits and zest to the role's humor and swashbuckling adventures, but he shows most powerfully how we can look past what we want if it is not what we think our loved one wants.
Other great movies about selfless love
Love Actually (2003)
The movie is packed -- some might say cluttered -- with several stories about various kinds of love. Emma Thompson's brief, understated performance leaves the most lasting impression. She is in love with her husband, who may no longer share the feeling. She is elated by his Christmas gift and then crushed when she realizes it is not for her. As she sets aside her anguish for the well-being of their children, Thompson suggests a pained ambiguity about how she has accepted the sacrifice her loves have demanded of her.
Stella Dallas (1937) and Mildred Pierce (1945)
In the first one, Barbara Stanwyck is heartbreaking as a mother who surrenders all for an ungrateful child. This one has no gunfire. In the second, Joan Crawford is riveting as a mother who surrenders all for an ungrateful child. This one has gunfire.
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
Mr. Spock has a Vulcan's logic and a human's emotions. Both influence him when he sacrifices his life for those of everyone else aboard the starship Enterprise. Even a full-blooded Vulcan could be moved to tears when Spock says, "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one."
10) LOVE TRIED AND TRUE
Resilient love between a man and a woman
SOUNDER (1972)
writer: Lonne Elder, III adapting the novel by William H. Armstrong
director: Martin Ritt
They are African-American sharecroppers in Louisiana in the 1930s so they have to endure poverty, brutal racism and more. But they have each other and their love is powerful enough to bring their family through worse. Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield are sublime in their Academy Award-nominated performances. When they run to each other after a long separation, we feel their rapture.
Others
On Golden Pond (1981)
He is cantankerous. She is indefatigably upbeat. They've been together for decades and if they weren't perfect for each other at the start, they certainly are now. Oscar winners Henry Fonda and Katharine Hepburn anchor a movie that is about love of nature, friends and family, loves vitalized by the enduring one between two extraordinary people.
Field of Dreams (1989)
Her husband might be crazy. He's plowed up the corn field on which their family's livelihood depends so that he can build a baseball field for players who are dead. If he is in madness, she's right there in it with him. By itself, love is a kind of miracle. The love between husband and wife in this heartwarming celebration of all kinds of love makes possible many other miracles as well.
Lola rennt (aka Run, Lola, Run, 1998)
Her boyfriend is the sort whose schemes get him wrapped up with lowlifes. It falls to her to run to save his life. The hyper-paced kinetic masterpiece is about how tiny quirks of fate can have tremendous impacts, but it mostly is about how a woman's love for her man can triumph even over his idiocy.
Resilient love between a woman and a woman
IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK 2 (2000)
writer/director of the segment set in 1961 and starring Vanessa Redgrave: Jane Anderson
Reviewed on Epinions by Psychovant: "Vanessa Redgrave gives an incredible performance here showing the depth of the loss of her soulmate, her heart's desire, and the pain of never being taken seriously as to the extent of her loss."
It tells three stories about lesbian living in different eras, but the trilogy belongs to Vanessa Redgrave. She and her wife have shared their lives with quiet, absolute devotion. When her wife dies, Redgrave's character suffers griefs compounded by cruelties inflicted by people who cannot recognize or refuse to acknowledge the powerful bond that lives now in memory. Redgrave's character carries a crushing burden and the actress makes us feel both it and the lasting love that lightens it a little.
Others
A Question of Love (1978)
The two women are wise, loving and compassionate, everything we want mothers to be. They also are lesbians, which is why they are involved in a custody battle for one of the woman's children. In this television movie based on a real case, Gena Rowlands and Jane Alexander embody their characters with confident grace, steadfast resolve and absolute love for each other and their family.
Imagine Me and You (2005)
She thought she was heterosexual until she fell in love with a woman. The two are young and have yet to endure the trials that will show whether their love will pass time's tests, but they have had to overcome not-insignificant obstacles. They move to each other at the end with affection so exuberant it inspires confidence that they will stay true even after they are tried.
Resilient love between a man and a man
YOSSI & JAGGER (2002)
Reviewed on Epinions by Stephen_Murray: "What makes it, in my opinion, a great movie is the final scene. Its effectiveness owes something to the disjunction between playful memories of goofy costumes and Jagger's favorite pop music with nearly overwhelming present ache."
The romance between two young Israeli soldiers begins with exuberant promise. It ends with one of the lovers wistfully recalling his beloved's favorite song and a mother regretting how little she knows about her son. In between, the movie is touching and inspiring, sad and memorable. About the secret love between two men, it gives a powerful suggestion that much is gained when people can be honest about their love.
Others
Bent
(1997)
Two men fall in love in a Nazi concentration camp. They are not allowed to touch each other, but the words they exchange and the fantasies they share provide a surprising substitute for sex. Ultimately, the two lovers transcend the oppression and violence they suffer. The ending is a grim triumph of the human spirit.
The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy (2000): This engaging comedy is mostly about young men and their lusts but at its broken heart it is about two men who have loved each other for decades. The younger men are devoted to the outgoing older man in whose restaurant they spend important parts of the movie and on whose softball team they play, but they do not understand what he sees in his quiet, shy husband. Later, shared grief brings them together and they hear for themselves echoes of an enduring love like that they long to feel for themselves.
Boys in the Band (1970)
Most of the movie is dominated by the hysterics of a man who thinks his homosexuality is the worst thing that could afflict him. But amid all this self-pitying sturm und drang, another man affirms his love for his boyfriend in a way that would require courage even in this more tolerant time. It is enough to put a lump in the throat of all but the most homophobic romantic.
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Related review: Will they or won't they? Uncertainty enhances the best romance movies
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