Offbeat Viewer's Top 10 Romantic Films

1) Punch Drunk Love (2002)

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson

Written By: Paul Thomas Anderson

Starring: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman

Plot: A beleaguered small-business owner gets a harmonium and embarks on a romantic journey with a mysterious woman.

What We Say: It’s amazing how many times you can watch Punch Drunk Love and have it still feel like the first time. In Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterful hands, Adam Sandler sheds his funnyman alter ego and delivers a performance that is down to earth. Like many comedians before him, Sandler has a serious side that feels that much more striking when he loses his off-the-wall persona. There’s a fantastic love story told in this film that isn’t always conventional, yet knows how to please it’s audience. Sweet, shocking and sometimes weird, Punch Drunk Love is a masterpiece.

2) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Directed by: Michel Gondry

Written By: Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry

Starring: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet

Plot: A couple undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memories when their relationship turns sour, but it is only through the process of loss that they discover what they had to begin with.

What We Say: Eternal Sunshine is probably one of the most original and fantastical love stories ever told. Written by Charlie Kaufman, the brilliant mind behind Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, audience get to fall down the rabbit hole and explore one’s memories of a relationship they had with someone they loved. Audiences explore how those memories change over time, morph into complex meanings and how they change who a person is. When the chance to forget those memories and to move on is offered, it can then change who a person has become. Audiences find out that even though those memories may be painful, they are still meaningful.

3) Lost in Translation (2003)

Directed by: Sofia Coppola

Written By: Sofia Coppola

Starring: Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray

Plot: A movie star with a sense of emptiness, and a neglected newlywed meet up as strangers in Tokyo, Japan and form an unlikely bond.

What We Say: Love isn’t always physical or has to be till death do you part. Love is about connections. Love is about filling a void that you can’t fill yourself. Lost in Translation isn’t about and old guy falling in love with a 20 year old. It’s about two people’s paths intersecting for a brief period of time, making a connection with each other and providing something of value to the other person. The main characters are at two different points in their lives, yet share similar problems. They find themselves in a foreign setting, largely alone, and vacant. They may not have a lot in common but discover they can comfort each other and connect on their own unique level. Lost in Translation is an amazing non-love/love story that deals with relationships in a postmodern viewpoint. It’s not overly flashy, contrived or conventional. Too many romantic films focus on physical love and forget the spark or the connection two strangers can develop for each other. There are very few romantic films are as deep as Lost in Translation.

4) The Fountain

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky

Written By: Darren Aronofsky

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz

Plot: Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.

What We Say: The Fountain is beautiful poem. It tackles the fragility of life and the idea of forever and love everlasting. It’s a beautiful testament to finding your perfect someone and never wanting it to end. This film will leave you bewildered. It’s a powerful film that captivates you with it’s hypnotic story, beautiful cinematography, and amazing score. It’s hard to put into words everything The Fountain is. It's a movie you must experience for yourself with someone you love.

5) Before Sunrise (1995) / Before Sunset (2004)

Directed by: Richard Linklater

Written By: Richard Linklater

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy

Plot: Sunrise: A young man and woman meet on a train in Europe, and wind up spending one romantic evening together in Vienna. Unfortunately, both know that this will probably be their only night together. Sunset: It's nine years after Jesse and Celine first met; now, they encounter one another on the French leg of Jesse's book tour.

What We Say: Two films that are best seen back to back. Before Sunrise chronicles the first meeting of its two characters as they discover and learn about each other. It beautifully captures the dance two people do as they realize they like each other. Spot on dialogue that starts off simple and get deeper and more complex and we watch in real time two people hitting it off. Before Sunset meets up with its characters years later as they run into each other and catch up. It again beautifully captures a couple reflections on what could have been and if there is any hope for the future. No film does it better.

6) Manhattan (1979) / Stardust Memories (1980)

Directed by: Woody Allen

Written By: Woody Allen

Starring: Woody Allen

Plot: Manhattan: A divorced New Yorker currently dating a high-schooler brings himself to look for love in the mistress of his best friend instead. Stardust Memories: While attending a retrospect of his work, a filmmaker recalls his life and his loves: the inspirations for his films.

What We Say: Ok so we cheated here clumping both films together, but Woody hit two grand slams in a row and both need to be seen. Manhattan of course focuses on Woody’s love for everything New York City. Within it contains one of his most grown up and intellectual takes on romance. Stardust Memories is about an older man who looks back on his life, on his successful career, on his storied love life and wants to know if it was all worth it. Did he make the right decisions? Did it work out the way he wanted it to? It’s a film about reflection. Some of the good relationships had their bad moments and some of the bad ones had their shining moments. It makes the audience look back on their own lives and reminisce about what makes life worth living.

7) 3-Iron (2004) (Korean)

Directed by: Ki-duk Kim

Written By: Ki-duk Kim

Starring: Hee Jae, Seung-yeon Lee

Plot: A strange, silent young man who breaks into people’s houses when they are away on vacation, and takes up residence. Far from being a thief or intent on any kind of damage, He actually cleans the houses, fixes broken appliances, and tries to soak up the details of the inhabitants’ lives.

What We Say: 3-Iron is about emotional isolation and a desire to fade from the world. The main character tries to escape from his own life of domestic violence and societal control and finds solitude by breaking into people’s homes as a way to forget his own. He loses himself in other people’s lives through their pictures and other personal belongings. One of the most striking aspects of 3-Iron is the way the director contrasts between the calm, ambient existence of their make-believe life verses the violent noise of the intruding outside real world. This tension is then heightened by the fact that neither Tae-suk nor Sun-hwa utters a word until the final scenes of the film. The director uses this device skillfully, seamlessly interweaving it. The film instead uses small gestures, looks, and the actors’ eyes to tell its tale This gentle form of communication feels so fresh and delightful it makes for one of the more touching films on this list.

8) Jules and Jim (1962) (French)

Directed by: Francois Truffaut

Written By: Francois Truffaut

Starring: Oskar Werner, Henri Serre

Plot: In Paris, before WWI, two friends, Jules and Jim fall in love with the same woman, Catherine. But Catherine loves and marries Jules. After the war, when they meet again in Germany, Catherine starts to love Jim.

What We Say:  Jules and Jim incredibly humorous tale of three people in love and about how their relationships evolves over the years. In one moment someone can be so sure of their lover, but over time, love evolves and you may still love that person but not in love with that person anymore. This is all done by use of paintings, books, plays, dreams, conversations, humor and documentary footage. Jules and Jim focuses on the circular nature of love, obsession and art that embodies the beauty of French cinema. Fun, whimsical, and free flowing, Jules and Jim is only one of many great romantic French films of the sixties but a great place to start.

9) Vicky Christina Barcelona (2008)

Directed by: Woody Allen

Written By: Woody Allen

Starring: Rebecca Hall, Scarlett Johansson

Plot: Two girlfriends on a summer holiday in Spain become enamored with the same painter, unaware that his ex-wife, with whom he has a tempestuous relationship, is about to re-enter the picture.

What We Say:  Woody Allen made a career out of tackling every different kind of romantic situation. So much so that we could create this whole list using only his work. But since we have to limit it to a few, his more recent film Vicky Christina Barcelona, definitely makes the cut. He explores the many difficult choices people have to make when deciding what to look for in a mate. Do they want a spontaneous relationship? Or perhaps a safe, more logical choice? Or simply one based solely on passion and sexuality? The answers to these questions do not always come easy, or have convenient timing and sometimes just have to be experienced first hand through trial and error. He presents us with characters that represent these opposing romantic philosophies and we watch as they begin to question not only each other, but eventually themselves. We become emotionally involved as they search to find themselves and exactly what they’re looking for and we become invested in their journey. Woody Allen’s list of romantic movies may be long, but few of his movies really investigate our questions about love to this depth and magnitude. Beautifully shot and acted, Vicky Christina Barcelona is an intelligent examiner of the human heart and how it sometimes truly struggles to decipher what it needs and wants to love.

10) Once (2006)

Directed by: John Carney

Written By: John Carney

Starring: Glen Hansard, Marketa Irglova

Plot: A modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week in Dublin, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story.

What We Say: Probably the most straight-up love story on this list. It’s a charming tale of two people discovering themselves and their feelings through music. Although the primary cast aren't professional actors, they are very natural together. Everyone involved in this film has a great passion for music, and it becomes very infectious. Once is bittersweet and romantic little tale that is Hollywood-cliché-free that lets its music move the plot forward. Less West Side Story and more Moulin Rouge, Once hits you like your favorite song does. Music has the power to evoke emotions and color our mood. It has to power to bottle up emotion and to set it free. Music is created from the heart and molded by our own emotion. When added to a beautiful love story it mixes to create an incredible moving experience.

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These lists aren’t supposed to be the “be all, end all” designed for you by a higher authority. The specific rankings, to a degree, are arbitrary and subjective for everyone. The lists merely provide, in our opinion, a handful of films that hit their mark and satisfy you with a few hours of blissful entertainment. We try and supply you with films from different decades to different countries, from old classics to contemporary hits, and from ones forgotten to other more recent standouts. We find our picks to be the best of their breed and believe that you will enjoy them too.

Feel free to post your comments or suggestions on our Offbeat Viewer's Top 10 Romantic Films list below.

Check back soon for our Deeper Cuts #11-20.


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