Romance Film

History of Romantic Movies

Romantic movies have the long history which has started since 1890s. Even though silent films were majority in the earliest days, filmmakers described romance, desire and sex. Then romantic films described some painful love from 1920s to 1950s. After this period, a variety of unusual pairs appeared on the screen from 1960s to 1980s. Furthermore, unusual love has been often expressed in romantic films since 1990. There are several periods of romantic movies and each describes different types of love.

Romantic movies which were produced from the 1920s to 1950s often show painful love, which means that main characters can not always realize their love at the end. The reason why main characters can not always realize their love is that they are under some serious circumstances or disasters such as a war. This reason makes romantic movies of this period really attractive. One example which main characters are under some grave circumstances is Casablanca (1942), directed by Michael Curtiz. The setting of this film is in Casablanca, Morocco, which was controlled by Vichy during World War  = 2 \* ROMAN II. The principal plot of this film is a typical romance between Rick, played by Humphrey Bogart, and Ilsa, played by Ingrid Bergman. However, some serious situations make this film more dramatic. One of the elements which make the film remarkable is the place which has historical background. The setting is in Casablanca, where the Nazi officials and a lot of refugees stay at the same time, which means the atmosphere is critical and emotional. This critical and emotional atmosphere gives the film the quixotic mood. In addition to the historical place, the circumstances of Victor, who is the husband of Ilsa, makes this film more emotional. Victor is a great activist, and he was in the Nazis concentration camp, which means he is also under serious circumstances. For these reasons, Casablanca describes the painful love which main characters are under serious circumstances.

After the period which romantic filmmakers described painful love, unusual pairs often appeared on the screen from 1960s to 1980s. Unusual couples are generally composed of people who have different elements. For example, a middle-age male professor falls in love with a selfish and seductive fifteen-year old girl, and he is obsessed with this girl in Lolita (1962).  The big difference of their ages is one of the elements which unusual couple might have, and this factor makes the audience feel weirdness and sympathy at the same time. West Side Story (1961) is also a significant film which describes an unusual couple. One boy and one girl belong to different groups; Tony belongs to the white teenage gangs, and Maria belongs to the Puerto Rican teenage gangs in New York City. Even though these groups hate each other awfully, Tony and Maria fall in love. Tony and Maria express their happiness and their dilemma, singing celebrated songs. Their passionate love in spite of their different social status and different races makes the film really dramatic and romantic. From these facts, it seems that unusual pairs are one of the most important elements which romantic movies in this period needed.

In addition to unusual couples, unusual love has been described since 1990. Unusual love shows that romance is not only for young unmarried people but also for middle-aged and married people. One example which shows us love between married people who are not young any more is The Bridges of Madison County (1995). This film illustrates romance for just four days which one housewife and her lover spend time together. The story is that a middle-age housewife who lives in county with her family falls in love with a photographer who is also middle-age during the vacation of her family. Even though the time which was described was very short, the film expresses the emotion of main characters who feel the dilemma about their love, using great actors such as Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood. Moreover, unusual love shows that love is not only between the opposite sexes but also between the same sexes. For instance, Brokeback Mountain (2005) is a film which deals with homosexual and bisexual romance. This film shows serious love between two men who fall in love secretly during their young summer days and hold their affection for a long time even though each gets married to a woman and has a family several years later. Their love is really pure and long-lasting although main characters are gay. Titanic (1997) also shows unusual love in an unusual situation. Two main characters are from different social groups. One is from high social class and another is from low one. Nevertheless, they fall in love on the Titanic, which is going to sink after crashing into an iceberg. Having a historical event as their background and describing unusual love, the film made huge success. From these examples, unusual love has been a significant characteristic for romantic movies since 1990.

There are several periods of romantic movies and each describes different types of love. Romantic movies which were produced from the 1920s to 1950s often show painful love. After that period, unusual pairs often appeared on the screen from 1960s to 1980s. Moreover, unusual love has been expressed in romantic films since 1990. As the society has been changing, the audience will see more variety of love and romances in the future.

Resources: http://www.filmsite.org/romancefilms4.html