nights and weekends
once
quiet city
the pear tree
l’enfant
in the city of silvia
paris texas
the new world
Someone might have mentioned them already, but The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?
Most of my favourites (see my Love is in the Air list) may well be clichéd, but is that cos the genre is particularly prone to cliché, or could the same be said of most genres, once you’ve seen quite a lot of examples?
Some Like it Hot is a good film for Valentine’s Day, not just cos events are set off on the day. At the time of making i’m not sure how clichéd the cross-dressing shenanigans were- though Shakespeare had fun with it and Hawks with gender reversals-, but even played for laughs the (same sex marriage) sentiments of the ending may still be quite unusual
Hehe, well those were all I could think of that weren’t ‘cliched’.
Even making a film about real life romantic relationships you won’t escape cliche since people base their relationships on what they’ve been told they should be like i.e. in films they’ve grown up with, told they’re amazing/beautiful etc
Perhaps if you really want to get rid of cliches, at least western ones, you could go to some isolated tribe or group of people and see how relationships form/what is the norm there, and try to find a love story.
Or if you really want to be scientific about it, study relationships from all sorts of human societies and find what is universal and what are just ‘cliches’ that belong to that group.
If by non cliched you just mean a love story that follow the typical route of falling in love but aren’t you’re standard garden variety romance there are quite a few of those
Hey, thanks for the suggestions everyone. (I need to make a list.)
How has nobody mentioned In the Realm of the Senses?
Yes, i think it deserves a place. Is it romantic love? May well be, not the expected outcome for romantic love anyway
The Green Ray may have girl meets boy but i don’t see it as clichéd; a lovely natural film, an idealistic young woman’s feelings expressed in different surroundings with improvisation and hints of magic along the way
Ponyo reminds me of the innocence of romantic love.
Before Sunset was an absolutely lovely romance.
L’avventura/Red Desert
(500) Days of Summer
Before Sunrise
Jerry Maguire
The Green Ray/Boyfriends & Girlfriends (and most films by Rohmer)
The Apartment
The Lady Eve
Say Anything
Lan Yu
Dust in the Wind (Hou)
Through the Olive Trees
Wings of Desire
Amelie
Happy Together
Trouble in Paradise
OK – adding some standards here, from my own perspective, that may be typical of their genre or not. All are good fun.
In all of these, perhaps clichéd movies, love triumphs over adversity – in Portrait it even triumphs over death:
Portrait of Jennie
Enchanted Cottage
The Graduate
Random Harvest
Beauty & the Beast (Cocteau)
Philadelphia Story
Hiroshima, Mon Amour
Some other classic takes on romance:
Bell, Book and Candle – James Stewart and Kim Novak finally get it on as they really couldn’t in Vertigo. Love the cat!
It Happened One Night
Jane Eyre (Welles/Fontaine version)
Wuthering Heights (Olivier/Oberon version)
McCabe and Mrs. Miller
A film with a very modern, non-cliced look at love and sexuality is Unbearable Lightness of Being, where a ménage à trois is dealt with in an adult manner. Also dealing with complicated relationships: Jules and Jim and Shampoo. I second the love for Wong Kar-wai. His films are sophisticated and stylish treatments of modern romance and its complications. Tsai’s The Hole is also a clever take on the subject.
Happy Valentine’s Day to lovers everywhere – or those still looking…
while amelie might not have the most cliche-free story, I would have to say that the directing and overall vibrance of the film was very refreshing.
Also most all of Wes Anderson’s movies (especially Royal Tenenbaums) deal with themes of love in a way that I have rarely seen. Anderson uses a matter-of-factness about love but also somehow manages to keep the whimsy and charming feeling that most cliche love stories focus on.
Funny, I really disliked Amelie. Not because of the story so much, but the look of it. My term for it would have been “trying too hard.”
-I wondered if there were any films about love and romance that might not be so cliched.-
No.
@Matt — uh yeah, I totally agree.
@Odilonvert – I can see where you’re coming from but I think in order to make a new and original addition to the film world they had to go way over the top with cinematography.
@Jack — well, I suppose one could think of it that way. But if you have to go so far, what does that say about the film world? And is what it is saying really true? I think over the top is too catwalk/music video, but then, it’s a matter of taste. For me, all that got in the way of the story. All I can remember are the goofy close-ups and tricks. There are plenty of films that don’t have to go that far to get a point across. To think that Amelie “woke up” the film world is giving it much more credit than it deserves (in my opinion), and its also discounting that there are good films happening out there with or without Amelie. Unless, you’re very specific about what you mean when you say “film world.”
Well this isn’t a romantic film, but in the spirit of upcoming Valentine’s day and all the foggy and heartbroken romances of the world:
Brown Bunny ?
4 pages and still no mention of Punch Drunk-Love.
Romance eh? Have a list of them meself.
@Andhika Eka Buana
Punch Drunk-Love was mentioned on the first page.
first title came into my mind is Elaine May’s The Heartbreak Kid.
Dogfight, Nancy Savoca
Manages to avoid all the cliches of a ‘first love’ film.
Glad to see Once mentioned. I love that goddam film.
Romantic love? You might want to try some films from Jörg Buttgereit then (Hot Love, Nekromantik, Nekromantik 2, etc).
HOL said, “Glad to see Once mentioned….”
Wuss. Actually, I really love that film, too. But I’m a wuss, too, as you know.
@Yuki
I really liked the original The Heartbreak Kid. Eddie Albert is terrific in that. Ditto Charles Grodin. The film made me want to see more films by Elaine May.
@M Klein
I always wondered about Dogfight (assuming you mean the one with River Phoenix).
@Grey
Never heard of those films. Thanks (although Nekromantik sounds a little off-putting).
@Matt Parks
What about The Wayward Cloud as a non-cliched romantic film?
@ Jazz: HA! Nice.
I’m actually a secret sap, and that film gets me every time.
I think Once is a great film to discuss on this thread since the love and romance aspect goes completely unspoken in the film—not that this is new but it’s refreshing. The love these two share occurs during the act of songwriting and performance they share together. That it’s so transient makes it that much more special.
Jake La Motta
Well,maybe you’re right in that Dim,they are surely more unconventional romances,although I still prefer In the Mood for Love for various other reasons.But,to me,as I said before,Ashes of Time is surely his most unique romance,as one could even see it not as a love film.