Oh, it’s that time of the year. Maybe I should acknowledge that for once.
What constitutes a romance anyhow? To me this is almost like art or porn. You can’t really explain it, but you know when you see it. For example, a couple of movies from last year I really liked, Anora and Challengers, are listed on IMDb as romance movies. Sure, there is that element, but neither of them really feel like that. Anora is more about the illusion of romance and Challengers is more about unfulfilled desire. One movie I put a lot of thought into is Cinema Paradiso. It’s mostly centered around the titular movie theater, but there is a romance element as well. It just happens that the romance is more about the main character mimicking movies than him actually being interested in the girl.
On the other hand, having elements other than romance does not discount the movie automatically. Many of the movies below could as easily be described as something completely different. There’s a musical, there’s a sci-fi movie, there’s an adventure movie, there’s a spy thriller, there was an animation, but I had to cut the list down… The possibilities are endless.
Actually, cutting this was surprisingly hard. Movies I had to take out include Duke of Burgundy, Mädchen in Uniform, Brief Encounter, I’m a Cyborg and That’s Okay, We Live in Time, Hit Man, Love Lies Bleeding, Past Lives, All of Us Strangers, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Love Witch, Fallen Leaves, Spontaneous, On Body and Soul, Dating Amber, And Then We Danced, The Night Is Short Walk On Girl, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Mäki, Compartment no. 6 and Makoto Shinkai got horribly shafted as I took out three of his films one by one. I am kind of sorry I took out almost all queer stories as there are so many good ones (or at least obviously queer ones, because you can have queer readings of some of the movies below and there is still one actual queer story there).
But here we finally go, in chronological order.
Singin’ in the Rain (1952)
Sometimes I wonder how I can love a movie this artificial and calculated as much as I do. I mean, they do the exact same thing they roast someone in the movie (using someone elses voice in a movie as Debbie Reynolds couldn’t do her singing). Despite this, it is an interesting look at the disruption synchronized sound caused in the film industry by people who were around to experience it (at least some of them). The romance itself is pretty awkward by today’s standards as Gene Kelly is quite literally twice the age of the 20-year-old Debbie Reynolds, but all this works somehow.
Harold and Maude (1971)
Well, the age difference here is much bigger and that is part of the story. Harold, barely legal rich kid already completely disillusioned with his life, meets a woman who is going to turn 80 soon, and she shows him how much fun life can be. Sure, we have to remember that age gaps in this direction can also be problematic, but this movie definitely doesn’t feel like that. Their short affair is definitely good for Harold.
Der Himmel über Berlin (1987)
The romance part is not that big, but it is key. An angel decides to become a human after he sees a girl he falls in love with. Again, this is a bit problematic story, as the woman now somehow needs to fall in love with an older man who just basically falls into her lap and is unable to take care of himself, because he has never worked and is only learning even being a human. Still, the movie is very beautiful and in many ways I would call it comforting. I guess you could also easily make a trans-reading of the story.
The Princess Bride (1987)
A farmhand loves the daughter of the house he works at. Then, he is ripped away from this life, while the lady is to be wed by the king. However, he returns and adventure ensues as there are political ploys… why am I even trying to explain this? If you haven’t seen it, you must have your reasons and thus never will.
Fa yeung nin wah (In a Mood for Love, 2000)
Two neighbors know their spouses are having an affair. They would very much like to have one of their own, but despite the obvious passion and longing, they just can’t bring themselves to do it. One might assume a movie where essentially nothing happens would be boring, but one would be wrong. The sexual tension just keeps this going incredibly well.
Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain (2001)
Amelie likes to fix the lives of others, but she is having trouble fixing her own, as she has fallen in love with a man she knows nothing about, except that he wants to solve the mystery of the photographs that have been ripped up near photomats. The style is very much that of Jeunet in general, but with more warmth than some of his other movies. In general, this is just joyful.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Our sci-fi movie. There’s a technology that allows you to remove all memories of a specific person. After Joel and Clementine break up, Clementine does exactly that and Joel plans to do it as well. This was directed by Michel Gondry and thus, like his countyrman Jeunet, the style is instantly recognizable. There are great visuals here that work very well with the theme.
Se, jie (Lust, Caution, 2007)
Wong Chia-Chi is part of the Chinese resistance during the Japanese occupation. She takes on a mission to spy on and eventually help in killing Mr. Yee, a collaborator and a member of the puppet government. However, things get complicated as he gets more paranoid and she is swept up in their torrid affair. The movie was also seen as so torrid that the female lead, for whom this was her first big role, was blacklisted for a few years (although Ang Lee, the director, helped her out by paying for her studies abroad to tide her over).
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
Scott falls in love with a girl at a party and becomes obsessed with her. The feeling is not requited and, worse yet, there’s her seven exes Scott needs to beat as they are actively trying to stop any kind of a relationship. There is a certain incel-aspect to Scott, who seems to think that you can just win a girl if you figure out the right questlines, but the movie is so outrageous that it is incredible.
Portrait de la jeune fille en feu (Portrait of a Lady on Fire, 2019)
As this is the only outwardly queer story on the list, one might assume that it gets in on a technicality, but, once again, you would be wrong, because this isn’t “just” a good romance movie, this is one of the best movies ever made. It’s about a woman hired to secretly paint a portrait of another woman, because the parents of the latter need something to sell her with. When the two are left alone and start spending time together, they decide to use their time for something better. We kind of know that this can’t last, but that doesn’t matter.