Romance: An appreciation on film and television

[cocotaffy]

Period Dramas:
Painted veil: one of the rare case when I actually preferred the movie adaptation to the actual book.
All Jane Austen adaptations with a personal favorite Persuasion.
North and South 4 episodes miniseries: with Richard Armitage adapted from Gaskell. John Thornton is giving a run for his money to the great Darcy character in Pride and Prejudice.
Far from the madding crowd: with the amazing Matthias Schoenarts and Carrey Mulligan from Thomas Hardy. Beautiful settings, great characters and top notch acting from all the leads.
Belle: with Gugu Mbatha-Raw about a mixed race daughter of a royal navy officer in the XVIII century

Comedies:
How to lose a guy in 10 days: with Matthew McConaughey
The proposal: with Sandra Bullock
About time: with Rachel MacAdams
Bridget Jone's diary
Penelope: with James McAvoy
Wimbledon: with Paul Bettany
Love, Rosie: with Lilly Collins

Dramas:
Love me if you dare with Marion Cotillard
Atonement with James Mcavoy
Bram Stoker's Dracula with Winona Rider

Series or miniseries:
Outlander for Scottish fans out there
The pillars of the earth: with Eddie Redmayne adapted from Ken Follet

 

[Cachoo]

Does anyone remember a short film called "9 Kisses?" There is no dialogue; just that year's award nominated actors. It opens with Reese Witherspoon and Benedict Cumberbatch and closes with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Miles Teller. It is on Youtube. Language is important but sometimes not needed.

 

[emason]

From 1945, the movie I know Where I’m Going with Wendy Hiller and Roger Livesey. It’s a tough choice for me whether this or Roman Holiday is my favorite romantic movie.

From tv I’d go with the Angel/Buffy/Spike storylines from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

[Cachoo]

I did forget about holiday movies and romance: Every Christmas I watch "Love Actually" and "It's A Wonderful Life" : I think there's great romantic chemistry in both films.

 

[aliceanne]

My favorite romances are anything Fred and Ginger. There is so much unspoken understanding between them. I find it more romantic than a lot of sentimental dialogue or sex.

When most couples get together at the end of the movie I feel like the adventure is over. With them I feel like it is just beginning.

 

[aftershocks]

Does anyone remember a short film called "9 Kisses?" There is no dialogue; just that year's award nominated actors. It opens with Reese Witherspoon and Benedict Cumberbatch and closes with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Miles Teller. It is on Youtube. Language is important but sometimes not needed.

Never heard of this before, but I found it on Youtube. Thanks for sharing. It looks like this is from 4 years ago, and is a project filmed in collaboration with The New York Times.

My favorite romances are anything Fred and Ginger. There is so much unspoken understanding between them.

Yes. And for some reason your observation made me think of the loving repartee between George Burns and his wife and comedic partner, Gracie Allen.

 

[aftershocks]

Belle: with Gugu Mbatha-Raw about a mixed race daughter of a royal navy officer in the XVIII century

Yes, that film is interesting and well-acted. But being based on a true story and real characters, some of whom are obscure in regard to their feelings and motivations, I found the film version a bit lacking in depth and full character realization. Some of the plot and character motivations did not add up, probably because so-called 'mixed-race' narratives are fraught with so much confusion and with many forbidden and polarizing emotions, based upon societal stereotypes, mistruths, and hang-ups.

There is a book upon which the film was based, Belle: the Slave Daughter and the Lord Chief Justice, by Paula Byrne (I think the emphasis upon describing Belle as a 'slave daughter' in the title is rather knee-jerk and cliche, but probably chosen for marketability reasons).

Interestingly, Byrne recently wrote, Kick: The True Story of JFK's Sister and the Heir to Chatsworth, 2016. Byrne (a British writer) is so fascinated by this true story that she is apparently trying to put together a film project, although it's not certain in what format or platform, or what the status is). As I mentioned earlier, the star-crossed love story between Kick Kennedy and Billy Hartington (former heir to the Duke of Devonshire title and estate) should definitely be brought to the screen, hopefully soon with Benedict Cumberbatch and Amy Adams in the starring roles. Most likely that won't happen though. If the story ever does come to the screen, it will probably be with younger, and probably unknown actors.

I first learned about this long ago and forgotten love story in Barbara Leaming's biography of JFK, Jack Kennedy: The Education of a Statesman, 2006. Jack and his sister, Kick, were very close and had similar personalities. Leaming, who is probably responsible for pioneering new interest in Kick Kennedy and Billy Hartington, has also recently written a book which focuses on eyewitness accounts of their relationship via diaries, letters, and newly released files at the JFK library. In addition, Leaming draws strongly upon first-person interviews with surviving family members and friends of Kick and Billy among the English aristocracy who found Kick's friendship, life, and her effervescent personality unforgettable. All of those interviewees are now dead. Leaming's book fills in gaps that Byrne's book (which covers more of Kick's early years) understandably can't escape since Byrne's research sources are mostly archival documents rather than first-person accounts. Both books are revealing though, and doubly insightful if read in tandem.

ETA:
Leaming's book on Kick is entitled: Kick Kennedy: The Charmed Life and Tragic Death of the Favorite Kennedy Daughter, 2014.

 

[aftershocks]

Does anyone remember a short film called "9 Kisses?" There is no dialogue; just that year's award nominated actors. It opens with Reese Witherspoon and Benedict Cumberbatch and closes with Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Miles Teller. It is on Youtube. Language is important but sometimes not needed.

Here's the 9 minute film and a video about the making of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqAJEh6Tu-c Great Performers: 9 Kisses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mBipxsy8G8 The making of 9 Kisses

 

[Cachoo]

Here's the 9 minute film and a video about the making of it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqAJEh6Tu-c Great Performers: 9 Kisses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mBipxsy8G8 The making of 9 Kisses

Thank you as I have trouble linking from this device. Also I had no idea there was a "making of" film.