Movie Romance: Does it still exist?

[Brotherofwill]

Hollywood's staple of having beautiful couples is as old as cinema itself. There's your Casablanca's, Gone With the Winds, Doctor Shiwago's etc etc.

Now in our modern, everyone knows everything (or atleast thinks he does) society, do these romanticized ideals still make sense? Is there still magic in two people kissing?

I can't remember the last time I felt honest emotion when presented with a couple in a movie. When was the last time you were touched, or atleast convinced by a romance scene?

Movie romance, does it still exist? Has it ever? BAM!

 

[BonsaiK]

Movie actors and actresses in days gone by went to a "film charm school" and learned forced movements, speech and gestures. That's why they all talk in such a stilted, polite manner, even the criminals - people didn't really talk that way back then. Kissing in old films was also tightly regulated by third parties. The old "movie romance" is an illusion created by these factors, plus nostalgia which always tends to polish the good stuff and forget the bad.

I'd go for Amelie as a good example of modern movie romance that retains and in fact surpasses the so-called "magic" of old.

 

[CK76]

I'd go for Amelie as a good example of modern movie romance that retains and in fact surpasses the so-called "magic" of old.

Well done BonsaiK.

I would argue this was the most convincing romance story I've ever experienced, but I'm a nerd so that helps probably.

 

[drdamo]

Tis a tricky question. I think that its out there, but not as much as it used to be nor in forms we think it should be like.
I've seen a fair few of romance scenes and at some point i had the brilliant idea of muting the whole damn thing and guess what?: Without music 95% of those scenes are a complete faillure.
I mean, if you and your lover share a romantic picnic at sunset, there won't be any violin music magically apprearing from your ass when your heads move together for that perfect moment.
Nowadays i'm only convinced by such a scene if the dramatic music doesn't pop-up from arround the corner like a manically sadistic clown begging for attention, or when there is no music played at all.
Even arthouse movies tend to throw in some tearjerking music at the right moment and even in such cases, despite the better worked out personas and more realistically written scripts, it still doesn't always feel real enough.

 

[Meggiepants]

I think the problem is more with the influx of crappy romcoms. There are so many of them, the plots are cut from the same cloth and they all look the same to me. They all seem to be variations of The Taming of the Shrew, and yet, none of them are quite as good a that classic.

I think there can be good romances in movies, but it's hard to find them because you have to wade through all the crap.

A film I think that does tragic romance very well is Farewell My Concubine. But it is a Chinese film, and subtitled.

And I should mention Up. The love story in that movie puts all other love stories to shame.

 

[Anachronism]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

It's one of the most convincing and beautiful love stories I've seen in any medium. It's obvious from about ten minutes into the film that Mu Bai and Shu Lien are in love, and each of them knows the other loves them, but they're not willing to express their love because of feelings of duty. I won't say more for fear of spoilers, but it's an astonishingly moving love story.

I'd also like to give Simon and Kaylee from Firefly/ Serenity an honourable mention.

 

[Brotherofwill]

I've seen a fair few of romance scenes and at some point i had the brilliant idea of muting the whole damn thing and guess what?: Without music 95% of those scenes are a complete faillure.
I mean, if you and your lover share a romantic picnic at sunset, there won't be any violin music magically apprearing from your ass when your heads move together for that perfect moment.

Hahaha. Yeah, true man.

I remember seeing a documentary about hard-core cinema nerds that talked about what they thought about movies. One of them made a trip to Paris because he wanted to see what it would be like to sit in a romantic, French cafe only to realize it's like every fucking cafe in the world once you strip all that Hollywood bullshit away. Pretty funny.

 

[Good morning blues]

It's like anything else: very, very few movies are able to do romance so well that you actually get pulled in. This has been a problem all throughout the history of film.

 

[Doitpow]

Doctor Shiwago

heheh I actually prefer this spelling.

Oh and yes, I've got one. Wall.e

 

[drdamo]

Oh and yes, I've got one. Wall.e

I must agree, that one did shed a tear at some point.
The fact that its easy on dialogue and relies more on Wall-E's ability to mimic human behaviour in such a way that he allmost seems human, makes it more real then most romance scenes.
Odd tho, that such a futuristic and heavy fictional story feels more non-fictional then "the real deal", gheh.

 

[Th37thTrump3t]

If you are talking about American films then hehe... NO!

 

[Erja_Perttu]

Oh and yes, I've got one. Wall.e

I must agree, that one did shed a tear at some point.
The fact that its easy on dialogue and relies more on Wall-E's ability to mimic human behaviour in such a way that he allmost seems human, makes it more real then most romance scenes.
Odd tho, that such a futuristic and heavy fictional story feels more non-fictional then "the real deal", gheh.

And I should mention Up. The love story in that movie puts all other love stories to shame.

Pixar does it again. I definitely agree with UP being one of the most romantic stories I've seen in a long time, and very sad.

Other than that, all I can think of as a modern movie with a romance plot I liked is...um... 10 things I hate about you? Doesn't really qualify as recent, but oh well.