Having gone through many silly infatuations, tumultuous relationships and heart-wrenching breakups, I have watched many, many movies trying to approach the subject of love… and some have even managed to do just that, each in their own way.

So here I am to the rescue, on a mission to help people who, like me, love to binge-watch movies and have a cry fest over some douchebag who probably didn’t deserve you.

(SPOILER: The Notebook is not one of them!)

        1. Moulin Rouge! (2001) Baz Luhrmann

Even if the Notebook didn’t make it to this list, I had to pick Moulin Rouge! as the #1 love movie (I’m trying not to say romantic, as not all movies in my list will be as romantic as this one). It’s an epic over-the-top movie about love in all its beauty. I know many people don’t like musicals, but I think everyone should give this a try. The cinematography is splendid, the costumes are magnificent and the lights and sets mesmerising.

Favourite scene: This is a tough one… There are so picturesque scenes in this movie: when Satine (Nicole Kidman) sings “Diamonds are a girls best friends”, the powerful tango to a cover of The Police’s song “Roxanne”, and of course the heartbreaking final scene…  If I HAD TO pick one, I’d go with the classic Elephant scene. Everything about it is grandiose, but the medley song, featuring everything from David Bowie to Elton John, makes it a winner.

        2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2014) by Michel Gondry

This movie is one of my favourite movies of all time. There is just so much poetry in Gondry’s directing, who really lures you into the magical world of a couple’s intimacy. I used to identify with the character of Clementine, like I do with all anti-manic pixie dream girls, which is pretty much resumed in these stills:

Favourite scene: When Joel (Jim Carrey) explores his deeper subconscious with Clementine (Kate Winslet) by reliving some childhood memories. It’s funny, it’s smart and… weirdly romantic.

        3. The Lovers on the Bridge (1991) by Leos Carax

Another one of my all-time favourite movies. When I first saw this movie, it haunted me for days afterwards. I felt this unexplainable feeling of bitter melancholy and joyous hope at the same time.  It’s the story of a woman and a man who fall in love while living in the streets, or to be more precise: the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris.

Favourite scene: The explosive scene where they (Juliette Binoche and Denis Lavant) dance to “Whole lotta love” by Led Zeppelin under a sky filled with fireworks.

        4. Closer (2004) Mike Nichols

This movie is not very romantic in the sense that it’s very sceptical, but it’s still very much about love. It’s does not depict the idealistic kind of love you usually see in movies, but it shows the cracks, the misconceptions, the harsh reality of love. The story is a bit complicated to resume in a few lines, but it follows the fates of 4 individuals, beautifully portrayed by Natalie Portman, Julia Roberts, Jude Law and Clive Owen.

Favourite scene: Every scene with Natalie Portman, another anti-manic pixie dream girl, whom I think is brilliant in this movie. But I’d have to pick the very hot scene in the strip club, where she is wearing a pink wig and telling the only truth she’s willing to say to her ex -boyfriend’s girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend (told you it was complicated), portrayed by sex-god Clive Owen:

–      Lying is the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off.

        5. Jules and Jim (1962) François Truffaut

Obviously I had to pick one or two french movies, I’m half french after all. It’s a classic movie about three friends, and lovers, caught in a long-term triangle drama, or as the soundtrack song puts it, caught in the “Tourbillon de la vie” (the swirl of life).

Favourite scene: When Catherine (Jeanne Moreau) dresses up as a man and they run around the city like kids. It’s the first scene where you get a sense of the dynamic of the trio they’re about to form, but it’s also a feminist statement. As soon as she puts on that fake moustache you can feel a certain shift in Catherine, like she can finally be free.

        6. Show Me Love (1998) Lukas Moodyson

Show Me Love is a movie about a teenage girl who falls in love with another girl in a small town in Sweden, but it’s also about heteronormativity, teen angst, sexism and the difficulties of coming out. The movie is very realistic, almost awkward at times, but it sends a powerful message of acceptance and whoever doesn’t go “aaaaaaw” at some point during this movie hasn’t got a heart.

Favourite scene:  The last scene. Elin (Alexandra Dahlström) is just so awesome and brave in this scene, and it definitely made me want to stand up for love. I know it sounds cliché but hey, as I said in my last post about breakups, love is cliché.

 

        7. Blue Valentine (2010) Derek Cianfrance

This is another realistic/cynical movie about relationships facing the ups and downs of life. The couple formed by Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling are simply adorable, but they are depicted in a very raw way, which makes it very romantic but also a bit depressing at the same time. I simply love these kinds of movies, I get to dream about love while accepting how absurd and cruel it can be.

Favourite scene: The Ukulele scene, hands down. It’s the cutest, just watch for yourself:

 

        8. Rust and Bone (2012) Jacques Audiard

Another french movie, I know, I can be a bit chauvinistic when it comes to French movies and art… But this film is simply too beautiful not to make it to this list. I had this unexplainable crush on Matthias Schoenaerts after watching this movie, don’t ask me why unless you’re a psychiatrist. This movie is also very raw in its own way, but the love between the two characters, perfectly portrayed by Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts, just pierces through the screen.

Favourite scene: When he takes her swimming in the ocean. I cried.

        9. Romeo+Juliet (1996 )Baz Luhrmann

Another epic movie by Baz Luhrmann, the eternal romantic who likes to kill all his characters and break our hearts over and over again. I don’t know how he managed to incorporate Shakespeare into our modern world, but if you let yourself get submerged by the atmosphere of the movie, you forget that the words you’re hearing are from the 16th century and let youself dream about a love as pure and naive as Romeo and Juliet’s. Oh and by the way, the soundtracks

Favourite scene: The whole Capulet’s masquerade party where Romeo and Juliet first meet is grandiose, not only for the cute “love at first sight” moment, but also for the crazy, explosive party led by Romeo’s brilliant friend Mercutio.

10. Before Sunrise / Sunset / Midnight trilogy  (1995, 2004, 2013) Richard Linklater

A great trilogy by one of my absolute favourite directors of all time (if you haven’t seen Boyhood, go see it). It tells the story of the relationship Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) over a longer period of time, from their first meeting to the disillusionment they face together in middle age. By doing a trilogy, Richard Linklater really succeeds putting love – and life – into perspective, plus it’s perfect for binge-watching.

Favourite scene: The last scene. I don’t want to spoil it, but it’s really the outcome of hours of feature film. It was worth watching hours of feature film just for that scene. After following these two characters you start to get attached, so I was a bit sad it was over, but it had this unexpected cute optimism that made me smile.

 

PART 2 is coming with my top 11-20 movies about love, so stay posted!