Quand on vit la vie en rose

Though I admit in my own opinion it is the most beautiful place in the world, whatever personal experiences/opinions anyone might have, it is decidedly a recurrent theme in romance films. And hey, since I've already set a rather corny mood for the entirety of the blog, I might as well homage the reason I've neglected it so: Paris.

So let us pretend we walk by la Seine in St. Michel, right in front of Notre-Dame, and we think back of all the times we saw this beautiful place in a movie. Some of my favourite film standpoints in this city:

The Audrey Hepburn Selections

Maybe because Audrey was basically the very model of the Parisian fashion style (or heaven knows if it's for another reason), but directors just adored to have her being chic and practising her French in movies. My personal favourite is, of course, Charade (how to forget lovely Audrey walking by the river and eating ice cream next to a delighted Cary Grant?) but How to Steal a Million, Love in the Afternoon, Funny Face and Paris - When it Sizzles do the trick just the same and seem to always give you the fun, cute and endlessly romantic side of the city of lights.

Le Fabuleux Destin D'Amélie Poulain
A movie that's, at least, in the top 5 of cutest films ever made, the story of Amélie's voyages inside the city while doing nice things is nothing short of adorable. A more polite and wacky view of a city that succeeds in being a fun metropolis, it shows a (surprisingly!) different side of the more Americanised version of Paris as decadent and unkind.


As the bells ring
The ultimate story of passion, madness and wild desire, Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame has indeed had many adaptations and, while Disney's is by far the least accurate one, it's the best remembered (indeed it's quite recent) and, ignoring how much crap the book had to endure in this version (a literary work that's much too passionate to be used by Disney at all), it still shows a beautiful reflection of the city, as seen by the impressionable Quasimodo: a work of art that can be bloody and kind at the same time, but never stops being magnificent.

L'Ultimo Tango a Parigi
Well, a movie that has most certainly gathered many different interpretations and most of all opinions (I know many more people who loathe it than those who consider it brilliant) but, in any case, it explores in Paris a subject that's often associated with New York City: loneliness in the intimidating, great big city. Because beauty can be cruel too, specially when you and your small problems have no place in a world that moves too fast to even notice you.

Before Sunset
A film that celebrates Paris almost as much as it compares reality vs. deep romanticism, it's impossible not to associate the city with the latter while watching. After nine years without hearing a word about her, Jesse bumps with Céline all of the sudden in the very capital of beauty. As we follow them through the streets, corners and on a wonderful boat ride, we fall in love with Paris almost as much as we do with love itself...

Moulin Rouge!
The Paris of Moulin Rouge! has a little bit of every description: it's a city of decadence, insanity, happiness, horror, great passions, incredible stories, misery... truth, freedom, beauty and above all things, love. Besides, it explores another theme rather commonly associated with Paris, which are the so-called "creatures of the night" (should we blame Dumas fils for that cliché?) In any case, it's a "splendiferous" view of a city doomed to decadence as it sees its best moment pass by...

Casablanca
I do believe, from the bottom of my heart, that the image of romance and idealisation the world has with Paris comes from this film. I don't pretend to deny that Casablanca is a full shot of anti-Nazi propaganda, but it is handled so perfectly there's no need to excuse it on the slightest: after all, it's a film that continues alive to this date for its romanticism instead of its political views. In it, we see Paris as a place of past happiness, freedom, unattachment... an idealised past with an idea of the many "what if"'s that come with a war. And, in my humble opinion, we have exactly that to thank for the current idea the world has of this beautiful and, yes, magical city.

1. The “Loverly” Heroine

"I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."

What could I possibly say about Audrey Hepburn that hasn’t been said a thousand times, more articulately and accurately? Exuding a sort of elegance that should have been intimidating, the ever-stunning Audrey came off as anything but: a woman as sweet as could have possibly be, with a heart bigger than herself, a humanist, a beauty... Audrey had it all, and will remain forever ageless. Hollywood's very own Fair Lady.

Favourite performance: Breakfast at Tiffany’s
Favourite films: Charade, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, How to Steal a Million, Two for the Road
Leading men of choice: Cary Grant, Peter O’Toole

2. The Violet-Eyed Temptress

“When the sun comes up, I have morals again.”

A star from all sides - causing controversy throughout her entire career, (and even now, post retirement) enlightening the world with her talent, lifestyle and love affairs; Elizabeth Taylor, the most beautiful woman ever filmed, made the world her playground... and we cheered her for it.

Favourite performance: Suddenly, Last Summer
Favourite films: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Cleopatra
Leading men of choice: Montgomery Clift, Richard Burton

3. The Haunted English Rose

"Scorpios burn themselves out and eat themselves up and they are careless about themselves - like me."

Burning with double passion - that of her disease and the curse of her astrological sign, (my fellow November 5th Scorpio!) Vivien Leigh was not only a struggling soul, a great actress and a delicate beauty - she was, and remains to this day thanks to her loving fandom, an icon.

Favourite performance: Gone with the Wind

Favourite films: Gone with the Wind, A Streetcar Named Desire, Waterloo Bridge

Leading men of choice: Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier

4. The Tormented Soul

"You know what I want? I want yesterday."

With an unenviable childhood that drove her to a lifetime of psychiatrists (dealing with a mass of phobias, including that which proved fatal), an unavoidable talent, impressively innocent and delicate beauty and an incredible knack for moving forward despite all difficulties, Natalie Wood deserves every moment of attention ever given to her by anyone.

Favourite performance: Splendor in the Grass

Favourite films: West Side Story, Rebel Without a Cause

Leading men of choice: James Dean, Warren Beatty

5. The Belle of Sweden

"I've gone from saint to whore and back to saint again, all in one lifetime."

An angelic beauty seldom approached, an imposing presence both physical and spiritual, a natural and raw talent that has never, ever been equalled: Ingrid Bergman was meant to be filmed - and thank the muses she was, for what a great loss the world of cinema would've had otherwise. So... for Ingrid, Sam - play it again.

Favourite performance: Gaslight

Favourite films: Casablanca, Spellbound, Gaslight

Leading men of choice: Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant

6. The Fairy Tale Princess

"Hollywood amuses me. Holier-than-thou for the public and unholier-than-the-devil in reality."

Her very face exuded class - a screen mermaid, a star... and, for the most part of the 20th century, the world's favourite princess. Elegant, beyond beautiful and the ultimate Hitchcock lady, Grace Kelly and her many facets will live forever in the screen and in her [grateful and adoring!] people of Monaco.

Favourite performance: Rear Window

Favourite films: To Catch a Thief, Rear Window, High Society

Leading man of choice: Cary Grant

7. The Snappy “Contessa"

"When I lose my temper, honey, you can't find it any place."

A star is ever there was one, a woman of the world, a high class bitch and an absolute joy to have had on film - the witty remarks and haunting beauty of Ava Gardner (one that not even The Chairman could ever fully take off his mind) make her stand as one of the greatest in history.

Favourite performance: The Night of the Iguana

Favourite films: The Barefoot Contessa, The Night of the Iguana, Mogambo

Leading man of choice: Clark Gable

Classic Hollywood goddesses

Since ancient times considered "magical", myth or no myth, the number seven is still probably the most constant through the ages - seven seas, seven [basic] musical notes, seven wonders, seven days, seven deadly sins... seven of my favourite on-screen divas of the classic era.

One for each day of this week, starting tomorrow with my number 7 - from where I'll work my way up.

This is how the allies won the war

Forget the atomic bomb, forget the troops, forget the battles, forget the entire war - in the moment Victor Laszlo stood up in Rick's Café Américain to sing "La Marseillaise", in that very moment, the Germans had already lost the war. Call me an idealist, but this scene, or in any case its energy, was what won WWII for America:



Doesn't the world look so much more hopeful, great and full of possibilities after that scene?

Sins of omission

Well, feeling a bit guilty over those great films that, for one reason or another, didn't make the lists in their respective decades, I decided to list some other favourites:

A Farewell to Arms (1932)

Red Dust (1932)

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

The Divorce of Lady X (1938)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

Dark Victory (1939)

Ninotchka (1939)

His Girl Friday (1940)
Rebecca (1940)

Waterloo Bridge (1940)

That Hamilton Woman (1941)

Doña Bárbara (1943)

Brief Encounter (1945)

Spellbound (1945)

Great Expectations (1946)

Notorious (1946)

The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954)

Rear Window (1954)

Sabrina (1954)

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Giant (1956)

Funny Face (1957)

Sayonara (1957)

Bell Book and Candle (1958)

The Apartment (1960)

The Misfits (1961)

My Fair Lady (1964)

How to Steal a Million (1966)

Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

Two for the Road (1967)

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service(1969)

Manhattan (1979)

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990)

Ghost (1990)

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

Frankie and Johnnie (1991)

Aladdin (1992)

The Crying Game (1992)

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Forrest Gump (1994)

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

Empire Records (1995)

Pride and Prejudice (1995)

City of Angels (1998)

You’ve Got Mail (1998)

Cruel Intentions (1999)

10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

A Knight’s Tale (2001)

Sweet November (2001)

Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

Spider-Man (2002)

Alex & Emma (2003)

Cold Mountain (2003)

Love Actually (2003)

2046 (2004)

Garden State (2004)

Spanglish (2004)

Un Long Dimanche des Fiançailles (2004)

The Constant Gardener (2005)

Corpse Bride (2005)

King Kong (2005)

Walk the Line (2005)

Casino Royale (2006)

Back where they left off

In a love affair that started in the Vienna of 1995's Before Sunrise, almost by chance and after almost a decade, Céline and Jesse run into each other for the second time in the Paris of 2004 in its sequel, Before Sunset. The two characters that fell in love overnight in their early twenties have now grown into colder, more mature versions of their old selves with time - and then, suddenly, upon meeting each other and recognizing the same spark that never vanished between the two, something happens: they recognize each other from their lost dreams and unfulfilled life expectations. A film many have considered over-talkative and even pretentious, I see as anything but: it is, in all its glory, the grandest portrayal of honest, real and idealistic love ever put on film.

My favourite musical and one of the films that changed my life, Moulin Rouge! exudes greatness in every scene: its over the top scenarios, its hipness, its crazy camera moves, the massive contrasts between one scene's intense drama and the next scene's fresh comedy: Moulin Rouge! is positively perfect. One of the better acted and most impassioned stories in film history, it's a modernized version of Alexandre Dumas fils's The Lady of the Camelias that works so well as its own cinematic pace that everyone tends to ignore its literary past. In all, Satine and Christian's story is one of the most touching ever filmed.

The Fountain, the film most often deemed "pretentious" of the entire decade, works in so many levels and so differently for each viewer that it's impossible to fully describe. A love story told un-chronologically through [im]mortality and history, there are countless ways to interpret its love story, within each viewer's own concept of love: either idealistic or more real. In any case, it's a beautiful, beautiful love story with more than stylized settings and one of the most breath-taking scores ever created... one that encompasses the story perfectly throughout and makes the climax reach a point of unmistakable beauty never before seen on film.

By far and away the most magical adaptation of Jane Austen's great novel, Pride & Prejudice separates itself from its literary parent to become a fully grown cinematic gem. Beautiful, funny and endearing, it's surrounded by a veil of innocence and sweetness that, while somewhat differs from the novel, is great in its own right. Much more "hip" than either of its two other more famous versions, its vitality opens the door, once again, to one of the best stories ever told - but with such a calm, light and hopelessly romantic aura one can't help but feeling in love with the world after watching it.

A decidedly less than common story in every possible aspect, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is probably the love story that best describes the actual relationship of the 21st century. Clementine and Joel are, at the end, so incredibly interconnected with each other that not only they can actually communicate through the vague memory of one another... but they recognize each other from what is practically a completely different life. Two lovers doomed to forget, and doomed to remember, and doomed to repeat the cycle once and again, hopelessly intertwined with each other. A perfect, perfect movie.

I don't care if it's clichéd and I don't care if it's a massive rip-off of that it intends to honour: that's exactly what it aimed to be. My second favourite Ewan McGregor film, Down with Love, is not only a positively adorable homage to the old Rock Hudson/Doris Day screwball comedies, but an incredibly fun flick with many great moments and an endless amount of brilliant quotes ("Catcher Block? The lady's man, man's man, man about town?") and a really cute and fun love story taken from that brighter place that only movies can take you to.

Admitting my love for Ewan McGregor's film choices, the least dark Tim Burton film, Big Fish, is one of the loveliest and most idealistically romantic films I've seen. Beautiful and enchanting, it's the story of a man meant for bigger things... and his life changes and has a purpose in the moment he sets eyes on his future wife. A beautiful, deep and downright adorable story, full of touching performances (Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor's Edward Bloom in particular) Besides, it's too fun not to love it.

Continuing down the "adorable" path, there's no way to skip the single cutest movie of the century. Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain exudes a quirky magic that's all of its own and seldom ever approached. Having herself given up on relationships for the simpler joys of life and nevertheless a romantic at heart, Amélie sets out to spread joy in the world... and ultimately finding her own mysterious angle of love.


Unconventional out of being so entirely conventional, the heroine of Bridget Jones's Diary is, really, every woman. Fighting her way through a big city and a small-minded family, Bridget, an ordinary woman with all the decision-making abilities and complexes that doom our entire sex, Bridget stands undecided through most of the movie, between the right and slightly boring Mark Darcy and the more fun and sexy Daniel Cleaver... being, as it is, an update of Pride and Prejudice, neither is really what they seem... but they do create some positively wonderful situations.

The Love Story of my generation, The Notebook is also a beautiful, passionate and sadly romantic film of young lovers. Switching the preppy Ryan O'Neal from the 1970 film to a rich kid type by the brilliant Rachel McAdams... a sort of reversal. Still, The Notebook is a much, much more powerful and relatable story and, while flawed as many, it's still beautiful and has turned into this really iconic sort of cult film over the last three years - I still haven't met the first girl of my age who doesn't adore it to pieces. And, truth be told: it does so deserve to be adored!

And so, finally, after months of vague neglect and mildly distant posting, the "film romance through the decades" series is finally over, and truth be told, I had a blast writing it. The downside is I saw so very many after posting each decade I feel quite guilty for leaving them out...

Finally - the good stuff!

The whole purpose of this "series" was, from its very beginning, to reach this exact point - so I've honestly been waiting for months [months of blog neglect, I admit] to get to the last two decades of film. Being perfectly fair, I do not think I find these two particularly good... but, I am a child of the very late eighties, and I did grow up watching movies of the 90's and, when I learned to love film, the 21st century had fallen upon me and, obviously, it's what is most at reach for me.

So, without any further ado, my picks for 1990's romance...


The greatest love epic since Doctor Zhivago, (and one that, in my opinion, even surpasses it, easily) The English Patient is operatic in its [infinite!] beauty. Passionate like few others, constructed almost magically, it's filled with gorgeous moments, features frightfully real and heartfelt characters and has an amazing view of "love beyond borders"... and few performances have captured a love-stricken, tortured soul like Ralph Fiennes's Count Almásy.

It's not easy to update a classic - and, while Great Expectations might present itself as easier to "tamper" with than other works... but the 1998 version does more than justice to Dickens's novel, keeping faithful to its spirit while practically changing everything else. With a strange lightness to it, my favourite of Alfonso Cuarón's films exudes sexiness, madness and eternal devotion... absolutely gorgeous.

A film everybody had doomed to failure before its release due to incredible budget up's, Titanic took everybody by surprise. Released a year after The English Patient, it followed the trend of romantic grandeur Patient had first imposed upon the world... but Titanic was really aimed at a wider audience, and it became an instant favourite of my generation. Ten years have passed since the first moment Jack Dawson claimed to be "the King of the World", and while many dismiss Titanic as a mess or as an undeserving choice, the fact is that it's not only there, but it'll be there for the ages - and Jack and Rose have become as recognizable to film romance as Rick and Ilsa or Rhett and Scarlett.

In the second direct appearance of William Shakespeare's great romance, Baz Luhrmann's update of Romeo + Juliet is, again, a surprising success at retelling a classic tale. While it may be argued that it's basically Shakespeare's play after switching sword for gun - but that's the brilliance of it! You actually have thugs speaking in verse, the narrator is a news anchor, it's all set in Verona, Florida - and somehow, it all works perfectly, and in its core, the timeless story of the two lovers works as well as the first day it was performed.

Yet another version of the same play, or more like a retelling of how it was written, Shakespeare in Love marvels in its wit, screenplay, acting, costumes, settings, music - and in its deeply magical and romantic spirit. A love story for the ages and a more human approach, though fictional, to one of history's greatest men, Shakespeare in Love achieves all it tried to do, and more.

The prequel to one of my favourite movies ever, Before Sunrise is one of the most sincere portrayals of love I've ever seen on film. Impossibly romantic, oh-so-very idealistic, it's really one of those perfect little films - dialogues and characters in particular are just so real it's almost frightening. Nothing beats those ancient European cities for film romance!

First from Jane Austen's pen and latter from Emma Thompson's, Sense and Sensibility, while considered a "lesser work" of Austen, made for a beautiful romantic comedy of manners in this 1995 Ang Lee-directed version.

Much like in the recipes featured in the film, Como Agua Para Chocolate mixes many of the things that can make film gret: beautiful settings, a passionate story, strong characters, a bit of honour and lots and lots of chocolate: delicious.

Bound from the social limitations of an era of hipocrisy, the two lovers of The Age of Innocence are forced to a lifelong affair of silence and, ultimately, unrecognition, as one is forced to carry on without the other. By far my favourite Martin Scorsese film, The Age of Innocence possesses a light elegance that makes it stand out from everything else - a kind of sensual, loving and delicate quality that makes it seem almost too breakable for words.

A less-than-common choice, I suppose, but however many haters Meet Joe Black might have, there's always one fan in the crowd that stands up for it and calls it a gorgeous love story... and yes, I'm that little voice in the crowd. With a decidedly not conventional story, even Brad Pitt works properly - back when he didn't know how to act much and just looked pretty. Sweet and quirky, it covers its flaws with a gorgeous love story - and it features probably my favourite sex scene ever.

The absolutely lovely Il Postino tells the story of a love-stricken Italian postman that, with the help of a Chilean poet on exile, the great Pablo Neruda, makes his loved one love him back through borrowed beautiful words. A sort of less complicated Cyrano de Bergerac, it's filled with the spice of Italian culture and the thoughtful reserve of the Andes Latin America - and, whatever it might be fill of, it works, and turns out being one of the most gorgeous pieces of work ever filmed.

The film that, for better or for worse, launched Julia Roberts to mega-stardom, Pretty Woman is a modern and somewhat extreme retelling of Cinderella - and who can forget Vivian looking fab while shopping in Rodeo Dr. with Roy Orbison singing in the background? It was Julia's movie through and through, and the story is, even in all its clichés, as fresh as it always was and will always be.

The movie even the Empire State Building loves and the most iconic of the Meg Ryan/Tom Hanks pairing, Sleepless in Seattle is, just as An Affair to Remember was before it, the ultimate chick flick... only this one was all set for it, and prepared to launch. Beautifully romantic and almost too cute to be true, Sleepless in Seattle is the movie you watch in a rainy Wednesday night to get cheered up... and how it works!