Little Film Buff: L' Amour!

"Love is a fan club with only two fans." — Gore Vidal

In honour of this day set aside for love, a list and a celebration of some of the greatest and memorable depictions of love in film.

According to me anyway...

I have to start with one of my first memories of seeing love on film. Aladidn is also the first movie I remember seeing in a theatre. One of the cutest scenes is Aladdin talking about Jasmine to Genie.

Who doesn't want someone gushing and getting all flustered and excited when their beauty is being described.

Here we go! To get things started...Young/First love.

Romeo and Juliet

Not my favourite Shakespeare play, but I obviously cannot write about love and film without the most famous example of first love/young love and its all consuming nature. How unforgettable it is and becomes part of us. Even if doesn't last.

Romeo & Juliet (1996)

I was OBSESSED with this movie when came out...seriously. I had the soundtrack on repeat and majority of the lines memorized. I quickly bought a copy of the play (I still have it) and pictured myself as Juliet...yeah I’ll admit to it...and most other girls did too.

Director Baz Luhrmann originally wanted Natalie Portman as Juliet, but she and her parents did not feel comfortable with her at 15 doing a love scene with an older actor. Although Juliet is 14 in the play.

This was also my first experience of a celebrity crush. The first shot of a then 22 year old Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo gave me goosebumps. It still makes my pre-teen heart all a flutter. AND THEN HE SPEAKS SHAKESPEARE!!

I also would have given anything to be on the other side of that fish tank!

A shout out to the also awesome 1968 Franco Zeffirelli film. Olivia Hussey is a gorgeous Juliet.

And later this year (October in the UK, not sure about N.A.) we will be getting a new adaptation of the classic story, with Douglass Booth and Hailey Steinfeld in the titled roles, along with an impressive supporting cast (such as Paul Giamatti as Friar Lawrence.)

Moonrise Kingdome (2012)

“What kind of bird are YOU?”

How could you watch this film and NOT route for Sam and Suzy! Two pre-teens that attempt to find solace and acceptance in their lives through each other as they feel the world close in around them. They connect right away and understand each other as no one else can. Although they are children, the two seem to have a maturity that is lacking in the adults in their lives. The sweetness along with the awkwardness of first love with first time actors Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward is so richly depicted and fits perfectly with director Wes Anderson’s style.

And the symbolism of Suzy “getting her ears pierced” by Sam is just priceless.

In the end Suzy sums up the film and puts it simply as only a child can: “We just want to be together. What’s so wrong what that?”

Let the Right One In (2008)

Director Tomas Alfredson’s adaptation of Let the Right One In came out the same year as Twilight and it got lost in the hoopla, also based on a book but it stands apart and delves deeper than your average vampire/ horror film.

Set in the bleak winter nights of Stockholm, Sweden adds an appropriate atmosphere and tone for a horror film, but also helps the viewer to feel as cold and isolated as the characters.

The heart of the film is the relationship between Oskar, who is bullied at school, and his new neighbour Eli, who happens to be a vampire and eternally twelve years old. They give each other companionship, comfort and safety, but more importantly, a sense of normalcy and love. We even get a sense of the parent’s perspective (Eli’s ‘father’) along with the burden and sacrifice a parent is willing to make for their child.

Through this relationship the story explores the dilemma of being a child forever, the innocence and guilt despite possessing the fierceness and power of a vampire. The dark thoughts that come with being bullied and feeling helpless and alone.

It is a coming of age film without a real resolution or a tremendous sense of hope at the end. The audience is left unsure of Oskar and Eli’s future and what it holds for them. After all is said and done, they are left with only each other.

Sidenote: Check out the 2010 Hollywood remake Let Me In. Good in its own way and keeps with the spirit of the original, if a slightly unnecessary remake.

The Princess Bride (1987)

Yes! This is completely cheesy and ridiculous, but don’t tell me that the heart and point of the film isn't a love story; a story about Buttercup and her “farm-boy” (aka Wesley.)

Despite being separated and the trials they both go through, they each never give up the belief that they will be reunited. In the end it is a fairly tale and they live happily ever after.

“My Wesley will come for me”

Benny & Joon (1993)

“And I would walk 500 hundred miles, and I would walk 500 hundred more. Just to be the man, who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door.”

Okay, that is not an actual line from the film, but the soundtrack...still.

Everyone is deserving of love, and before Silver Linings Playbook made mental illness fun and quirky there was Sam, a shy, awkward and simple guy, with a gift for re-enacting Buster Keaton’s signature physical comedy. Joon is suffering from a mental/emotional illness and has a artistic and creative side. They meet and find a way of communicating, understanding and taking care of one another in a way that her over protective brother Benny has trouble understanding and accepting. The film is also about the love between a brother and a sister who must let go of their past in order to move on to a healthy future.

*sigh* Johnny Deep in his prime before Jack Sparrow and Disney got to him.

Jane Eyre (2010)

I’m one of the few that prefers Jane Eyre over Pride and Prejudice (not that I don’t like Pride and Prejudice.) I like the darker tone and angst (hence my bias to the 2010 adaptation) that is part of the story. Although this is more a story about Jane Eyre and her life, the romance is what tends to be remembered the most.

I like my male characters brooding, wounded and mysterious with an egotistical side as well, so I’ll take Mr. Rochester over Mr. Darcy any day.

And yes, I'm fully aware he lies.

I love the chemistry and intensity between Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender as seen in this clip, after Jane saves Rochester from a fire in his room.

Casablanca (1942)

The story of Rick and Ilsa and how they can’t be together is a classic. The memory of their brief time in Paris before the war keeps them going yet torments them at the same time, in particular Rick. He manages to bury his feelings for Ilsa (with drink) until one day “of all the gin joints” she walks in with her husband Victor, a key figure in the war and wanted by the Nazi’s. Rick ironically is also their only hope to escape.

Personal happiness collides with the greater good. As the famous saying goes, “if you love someone, set them free.”

I also love the way Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman.) look at one another throughout the film.

Legends of the Fall (1994)

I’m not going to lie that one of the reasons I love the name Tristan (played buy a young Brad Pitt) is because of this movie.

It is a sweeping epic of a film that spans years and focuses on the lives of three brothers, Alfred, Tristan, and Samuel Ludlow. They are all different yet fall for Susannah who is originally engaged to Samuel. War, death, prohibition, politics and family ties are all explored in this melodrama. The romance between the troubled Tristan and Susannah is a huge focus and the push and pull between them and the repercussions. It may be a little over the top with the drama of the Ludlow family, but you can’t help but get all wrapped up in it.

Love Story (1970)

It says it right there in the title. This is more for my mother, who has told me numerous times this is one of her favourite movies and still hums the famous theme song to this day. I’m sure many women of her generation feel the same as well. She even wore black turtle necks and long dark hair-a la Ali MacGraw.

They story about Jenny Cavilleri and Oliver Barrett IV is your classic story of class and ethnic backgrounds colliding, and follows their life together in what is considered one of the great tear tearjerkers.

Bring kleenex and remember that “love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

City of Lights (1931)

If you have never watched a Charlie Chaplin film (shame on you!) this is a good one to start with. Not as comedic as Modern Times or The Gold Rush for example, but you get a sense of Chaplin’s style and his famous Tramp character.

It is a sweet story of how the Tramp is mistaken by a blind girl for a millionaire (the Tramp’s friend.) A romance starts between the two and when her rent is due, and an opportunity for an operation to cure her blindness comes up, he sets out to find the money and a series of unfortunate events unfold. Does he come up with the money and how will see react if she finds out he’s not a millionaire?

Only one way to find out is to watch. It is a very sweet story.

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

I don’t care that this involves two gay men, in the end it is a heartbreaking love story done with an honest and brave attempt to be sincere by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger; with better chemistry and realism than any Jennifer Aniston or Kate Hudson romantic-comedy. The tragedy comes from personal fears, insecurities and societal pressure/expectations and ignorance of the time that result with Jack and Ennis unable to be together beyond one summer and a few stolen moments throughout the years.

I get all sad just remembering what is in Ennis’s closet.

I could go on but this would one LONG list, as I’m sure there are tons that I have missed anyway or have not even seen yet. So here are some other great love stories as depicted on the silver screen.

The English Patient (1996)

The scene when Almsay carries Katherine on the mountain...beautiful!