Below is my top 10 list of the romance films I looooove. (Though the order isn't according to ranking.) Seriously, I've probably watched these movies so many times I could quote them. My taste is pretty eclectic and the list has a flexible definition of "romance" since few follow the straight, "boy meets girl" formula.
1) Love Jones (1997)
This is the film that made me fall for Larenz Tate, made me want to be Nia Long, and made me believe that even with jaded urban black professionals, love is still possible. I love the vibe of this film, from the acting to the soundtrack (I bought the CD and played it endlessly) to the cinematography. I didn't always agree with the characters decisions, but I could empathize with them. And the writing in this film is smart. I hate to say it, but in a lot of black films, I feel like the plot and dialogue get dumb down for easy laughs. The actors reactions are over the top and inauthentic. I didn't see that here.
Unfortunately, the writer/director Theodore Witcher didn't do any other projects after this besides the film, Body Count, which I never saw.
You will also note that it is the only black romantic film I have on here. Seriously, I tried to think of others from The Best Man to Love and Basketball to Something New and the most I could work up was a "Eh, it was ah-right! Nothing to write home about." I'd love to see another black romantic film made like this one!
2) Eat Drink Man Woman (Yin shi nan nu) (1994)
This is what I mean when I say I have eclectic tastes. I discovered this Taiwanese film in high school and watched it over and over again. It made me a big fan of the director Ang Lee who is probably better known stateside for directing, Brokeback Mountain.
This film is about a group of very different sisters whose father is a world-renown chef. It shows how each member of the family falls in love and how their relationship with each other change as a result. I thought the film was beautiful. Even the opening scene where the dad is preparing dinner for the entire family (shown in the clip above) is amazing and it makes me hella hungry! This was a film that was so well written and acted that it crossed both language and cultural barriers. I became emotionally invested in the characters and loved to see how they evolved in the course of the film.
You know a foreign film is good when the American production companies try to imitate it. The "American" version of this film is Tortilla Soup, but in this case, imitation was not the best form of flattery. Sorry, but that movie suuuuucked!
3) Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain) (2001)
A "best romantic movies of all time" list has to include at least one French film, right? :) Well, here is mine. First of all, can you say GORGEOUS? This film looks beautiful with its hyper-real colors and expansive scenes. And I loved the heroine, Amelie. This girl is so awkward, she's adorable. Even the hero is cute too with how downright weird he is. (He works in a sex shop and collects discarded pictures from photo booths, for God's sake!) I love the tangential stories that are all interconnected. I love the quirky feel of the film. Did I mention I really love this movie???
4) Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Weddings are naturally full of drama, so you can imagine when you're in a culture where a wedding can literally drag on for days and can include hundreds of people, you're in for a bumpy ride. This movie doesn't disappoint. There's a lot going on here, from a couple wavering over their planned marriage, to a lower caste couple falling in love, to one woman finally calling out a pedophile uncle.... whoo, chile, drama, drama, drama!
And for you Denzel Washington fans, the talented director of this film, Mira Nair, is also known for her work on the interracial romance film, Mississippi Masala, starring Denzel and Sarita Choudhury.
5) Sense and Sensibility (1995)
I am not a big Jane Austen girl. Never have been. But its something about the film adaptations of Austen's books that always win me over. Plus, I'm a big fan of the actors in this one: Emma Thompson (the queen!), Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman. And its yet another movie by Ang Lee! And again, I have a soft place in my heart for a love story about sisters. Sense and Sensibility is basically a story about women coming to terms with what love really is -- not an overly romanticized version, but true love. Seeing them find happiness in the end was incredibly heartwarming.
6) Muriel’s Wedding (1994)
Everyone knows about the Broadway show and the film, Mamma Mia, but few have also seen this film which was basically an ode to the Swedish 70s group, ABBA. This is a story that is less about a girl falling in love with a guy, then falling in love with herself.
Being a blerd, I love stories about outcasts and Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette) is one of the biggest outcasts you could possibly find. She’s overweight, shy, and a extreme ABBA fan. She fantasizes about becoming another person and decides one day to make that dream a reality. Unfortunately she does it by stealing money from her dad, changing her name to Mariel, and leaving her Australian small town of Porpoise Spit (that’s the name… I kid you not) and disappearing to Syndey to carry out her fantasies of a new life. In the course of her adventure, Muriel discovers that if you can’t love yourself, then you can’t love anybody else. A true romantic women's empowerment story.
7) Kama Sutra, A Tale of Love (1996)
Yeah, I know what you’re thinking… and get your damn mind out of the gutter! LOL It’s yet another Mira Nair film. (As you can tell, I have a few favorite directors.) Though there is a lot of sex in this film (it is about the Kama Sutra, after all!) it’s also a story that’s both emotional and sad. It’s a story about two friends – one who is Indian royalty who marries her prince and figures out that it isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and a servant girl who learns that there is power in her sexuality and uses it to climb her way up the social ladder. The two are caught up in the forces of change around them, becoming enemies at one point and then friends in the end. The love story part is a bit tragic, but not all romances can come with a happy ending.
8) The Cemetery Club (1993)
I describe The Cemetery Club as The Golden Girls if it had appeared on HBO instead of network TV, and it was allowed a PG-13/R rating. This movie shows that romance and passion doesn’t have to stop just because you have an AARP card and can sign up for Medicare. (And gives me hope for my romantic future!) It follows the stories of three women -- all widows who have chosen to deal with their widowhood in their golden years in very different ways. Doris, played by Olympia Dukakis, is happy just to tend to her husband’s grave and never look at another man again. Lucille, played by Diane Lane, has decided to take revenge on her once-a-cheater dead husband by basically slutting her way through the retirement home. And then there’s Ester, played by Ellen Burstyn, who’s torn on how to deal with her grief. She misses her husband but doesn’t know if she’s happy to spend the rest of her life sweeping wilted leaves from a tombstone. She finally meets Ben Katz, a retired cop played by Danny Aiello, who is so unlike her husband. He’s sexy and exciting to Ester and she decides to take a chance on love.
My favorite scene by far is the scene where Ben and Ester are trying to get on a condom in the dark and they both admit they’re waaaaaay out of practice. Oh, my God, I died laughing!
9) Kissing Jessica Stein (2001)
This is the movie that poses the question that maybe what you’re really looking for isn’t Mr. Right, but Miss Right. Jessica Stein is the female version of Woody Allen (well, except for “marrying the adopted daughter” part.) She’s smart, neurotic, and a bit goofy. Her romantic life is tore up from the floor up until she crosses paths with Helen, a lesbian who is really into her. Jessica decides to test the lesbian waters and she soon figures out that she likes being in a relationship with a woman though she isn’t sure if she’s ready to come out to everyone. Of course, the story gets a lot more complicated and Jessica goes through a bit more self discovery before finding the partner who is truly right for her.
As an added bonus, Jon Hamm, the oh-so-fine actor who plays Don Draper in Mad Men is in the movie. He’s married to Jessica (Jennifer Westfeldt) in real life.
10) Dogfight (1991)
This is definitely a film that tugs at the heartstrings and puts a huge emphasis on looking past the outer shell to see what’s on the inside. Eddy, played by River Phoenix, is a Marine recruit headed off to Vietnam and he and his buddies decide it would be hilarious… just hilarious… as a last hurrah to hold a dogfight competition. What’s a dogfight? Well, they basically invite the ugliest girls they can find on a date and then by the end of the night bring all the girls to a bar and vote on who’s the ugliest. (I know... they're real winners.) Whoever’s date wins the competition, the guy wins all the money they each contributed to the pot.
Eddy decides to invite Rose, played by Lili Taylor, a sweet though not the prettiest girl. Rose is at first disbelieving of his advances then finally agrees to go on a date with him. During the night, Eddy gets to know Rose better and starts to feel bad for dragging such a good person into a dogfight. Rose discovers the truth about their date and curses him out along with the other Marines. From there, the real romance between Rose and Eddy begins. I love this story because it not only says something about shallowness, but it also shows how people can be redeemed.
Do you have any romantic film favorites? Share them below.
-- Black Girl Nerds Contributor, Shelly Ellis. Her novel, Can't Stand the Heat (Kensington Publishing Inc.), will be in stores April 30.
