So.
London, I am thriving.
Feel very at home.
Have hung out at BFI Southbank a lot, seen Howard Hughes' The Outlaw, Howard Hawk's Red River and Francois Truffaut's Jules et Jim. M
AN what a feeling to watch old movies
in the cinema
.. have dreamt of being able to do that since I was a kid.
Valentine's Day today. man oh man. over a year ago since I had a boyfriend but still I feel newly single.
The most romantic day and I hardly noticed it.
Still, what I love is a genuine romantic movie and I want to make it clear I DO NOT approve of about 99% of all chick flicks. They do nothing for me. But romantic movies when they have depths, feeling, and a great cast, then they get on my best film list.
So, Top 5 best romantic movies ever.
1. Brief Encounter. David Lean-1945
A timid house wife meets a handsome doctor in one of her weekly ruts, at first she thinks nothing of it. but week after week when they meet again she starts to feel something s
he never felt before and gets tempted to cheat.
I almost cannot with words describe how much I love this movie. From beginning to end I am spellbound by the visual beauty, the spark between the actors, the dialog, the music, everything is just perfect. David Lean as director shows he is not only a master of epic adventure but also intimate portraits of love. It is by far the most romantic movie I know and it also have an exclusive place on my top 20 of all time favourite movies. The very last scene *spoiler alert* where they say goodbye is amongst the most emotional scenes I know. In their last moment together an annoying friend intrude in their final words, and since they're both married they have to pretend.. so all you can see is the glances of grief and longing to each other. And as he stands up to leave and to never to return he puts his hand on her shoulder and squeeze softly you can feel the anguish like arrows through your body. I have loved old classic movies since I was a kid and I feel sad for people who don't wants to give them a chance because they're missing out on masterpieces like this.
2. Pride and Prejudice. Joe Wright-2005
You have bewitched me..body and soul..and I love, love, I love you.
I've used that quote before because it is so powerful and really sets the level on how much more it is than a regular romantic film with typical clichés. Jane Austen of course, and she is the master of romance and wrote this amazing novel in 1813. Elizabeth Bennet is the heroine in this classic story of love, family, values and of course Pride and prejudice. Elizabeth is a strong, smart young woman who is sceptical of love but get her whole world crumbling when she meets the striking Mr Darcy. He is a man who falls for the independent Elizabeth but gets his hopes shot down when he through his judgements on what's right and proper goes against Elizabeths and her lower standing family. I have seen this adaption from 2005 so many times it's ridiculous. Keira Knightley completely swept me over in her unbelievably acting skills and made me love everything she does. The very last scene where this quote is being said is one of my favourite scenes and the chemistry between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth is to say the least electric.
3. Waterloo Bridge. Mervyn Leroy-1940
My grandmother Naima means more to me than any other person in this world. And through out my childhood (as she knew what a film buff) she talked about this movie she saw back in the 40's with her mother which she loved. She described it to me but only knew the Swedish title so it took years before I found out which one it was. When I finally found it I saw it and was I was mesmerized. I was so happy to finally have found the movie my grandmother had been talking about and when I told her I saw it and loved it she was so happy..And this movie was Waterloo Bridge. Vivien Leigh plays Myra a ballet dancer in London at the brink of WWI. During a bombing she meets a handsome officer, Roy, and they fall head over heels in love with each other. They decide to get married but Roy is the day after sent out in to the war and they both are heartbroken. Time passes and their love only grows until *spoiler alert* she reads about his untimely death in the news paper.. She falls into depression and despair and rely on a friend to help her survive. That time in England poverty and famine was not uncommon and Myra finally wonders were the money is coming from. Her friend confesses what kind of work she has been doing to support Myra during her illness and Myra is appalled but at the same time feels guilty of what her friend was forced to do for her sake. Myra then decides to do the only thing she can to survive and joins her friend in her profession, a lady of the night.. One day when Myra is out looking for "clients" she sees something she only dreamed about.. Roy. He is not dead..He sees her thinking she is there to meet him and is delirious and want to get married right away. A misprint it that news paper changed her whole life and now she lives with guilt and shame with the man she loves. I'm not going to ruin the ending for you but let me tell you.. It's such an unbelievably great movie and I'm so glad my grandmother remembered it for 60 years just to tell me about it.
4. Casablanca. MIchael Curtiz-1942
Well, how could I not have this movie on my list. One of the biggest love stories on film of all time. I have had a poster with this movie since I was a kid. Yeah I was a total square and loved movies like this.
Unoccupied Africa during WWII, a bar, a man and his old love steps in. Yeah we all know this story.. and if you do not you sure have missed something. It is a classic for a reason. In 1942 it was pretty unusual for a movie not end happily ever after. And for so many years people have wishing, wanting a alternate version of the ending of Casablanca just for the ease of a happy ending. But that's what makes it great, because it is one of the strongest love stories of all time and the do not end up with each other. I have seen this many times and I think everyone knows about it and knows what it is about.. but few of the people I know have actually seen it. it is a shame. This movie has a great cast, not only swedish pride Ingrid Bergman and tough guy Humphrey Bogart but two other of my personal favourites, Sydney Greenstreet who made 22 movies in his career which include the genius Maltese Falcon (which was his debut at the age of 63) sidenote: It was him in this movie that gave the designer inspiration for Jabba the Hut in Star Wars. The other favourite in this movie is one of my all time favourite actors. Claude Rains, he plays the corrupt police officer who share the last screen with humphrey Bogart in the end. Rains have played so many amazing parts, including Invisible man, Wolf man, phantom of the opera, Notorious, Lawrence of Arabia, Now Voyager and the list goes on.. So the cast alone are a Big reason for watching this classic film which will never go out of style.
5. Bridges of Madison County. Clint Eastwood-1995
Ok, here's my
first real..what's the word.. chick flick. I have known since I was a kid about this
movie and that it's a modern classic but It took me years to watch this movie because I generally Hate movies like this. I accidentally got stuck in front of the TV one day and this was on.. and 2 minutes in and I was sold. Let me tell you.. this movie is incredible on so many ways, and ok, if you don't want to se romance or drama, skip this one. But if you want to see a really amazing film, please put aside your prejudices for romantic movies (as I had to) and watch this. Based on the book by Robert James Waller (which I read after I was sold on this movie and it is just as great as the movie) Meryl Streep plays a house wife, Francesca, who have an encounter with a photographer Robert (eastwood) visiting her small town while her family is away for the weekend, and sparks fly. During four days, Francesca and Robert share the greatest love story of their lives. Streep and Eastwood.. they make it.. so real. the last scene *spoiler again* is so emotional you could die.. and I showed this movie for my then boyfriend and he Loved to. So you can be a guy or a girl who HATes movies like this and be proven completely wrong. because this movie aren't only an incredible love story with an ending to die for it is a real proof of actors and actresses who can take a part and make so alive you swear it's real.
Hm.. interesting that of my top five, only one ends in happiness.
