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Home Archives for romance

October 4, 2011 By iluvcinema 3 Comments

Tuesday’s Overlooked Film: An Affair of Love (1999/2000)

An Affair of Love* is a French language film from 1999 (distributed in the US in 2000) directed by Belgian Frédéric Fonteyne and starring Nathalie Baye and Sergi Lopez in the title roles of ‘Her’ and ‘Him’.

‘Her’ and ‘Him’ meet via a personal ad in a magazine.They are both seeking an anonymous liaison; they do not know each other’s name (as has been agreed upon). However, over the course of the affair, it becomes obvious to the couple as well to the audience that what was supposed to be a series of ‘encounters’ has become something a bit more complicated. The question then becomes what will happen next?

I will not completely ‘spoil’ the rest of the plot in hopes that you will check out this film; but I suspect that many of you will be able to figure it out to varying degrees.

The irony of the French title is that there is nothing pornographic about this film. In fact, quite the opposite is true: it is a tender tale of two people who are faced with the decision as whether or not to act upon their love for each other.

I like to think of this film as sort of a companion piece to another tale of love that is (maybe) not fully realized – Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter. In Brief Encounter, we have a pair of adults whose love is present but never fully expressed (their one attempt falls haplessly apart). In An Affair of Love there is the full expression of the act of love which develops into a real love – but it is similar to Brief Encounter in that the love is somehow incomplete and not fully realized to a conventional satisfaction.

In both movies, the end result can (may) leave the audience feeling alienated and unfulfilled. But because An Affair of Love is handled properly – through its adept directing and acting – the audience leaves the film understanding. In my opinion, there must be a level of accomplishment in having achieved that.


* French Title: Une Liaison Pornographique

Filed Under: Recommendation Tagged With: french film, overlooked film, romance

October 6, 2010 By iluvcinema 2 Comments

Quick Pick: “I Married a Witch” (1942)

1941:  American leading lady Veronica Lake (Constance Ockleman, 1919 - 1973) wearing a glass-beaded dress in a scene from 'I Wanted Wings' about the fortunes of three recruits to the American Air Force, directed by Mitchell Leisen  (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

I tweeted about this film last night as I watched its closing moments. I just wanted to take a moment to briefly post here about what an imaginative, creative piece of cinema this was. As a fan of the television series “Bewitched” (which this film predates by 20 years or so), I really was taken in by the story of a witch mixing with a mortal and all the wondrous things that come with that.

The film was directed by René Clair and is based on the novel The Passionate Witch by Thorne Smith.

The supporting cast is also of note and includes the likes of Cecil Kellaway,  Susan Hayward and the ever entertaining Robert Benchley.

For more information on this film, I refer you to the entry in the TCM Movie Database.

Filed Under: Recommendation, Reviews Tagged With: classic, fantasy, fredric march, romance, supermatural, veronica lake, witches

October 19, 2009 By idawson Leave a Comment

Romantic Literature

It must be obvious to readers of this blog – I love romantic pictures .. especially those that are adapted beautifully from some great bits of literature. I was browsing the BBC America site this evening and followed this link:

http://bbcamerica.com/content/382/index.jsp

Mind you it is a Miramax advert for the upcoming DVD release Cherie starring Michelle Pfeiffer, it is something I thought you might like. Click on the images and read the short synopses of books and their novel adaptations.

Filed Under: dvd, Lists Tagged With: atonement, book movie adaptations, cheri, keira knightley, merchant ivory, michelle pfeiffer, romance

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