Films about love relationships

Tell us about a movie that helped you better understand your relationship(s) or inspired you to make a move towards making your relationships matter.

Adolescent Love

A Walk to Remember

This film follows the story of Jamie, a young girl with cancer and her developing relationship with Landon, a reckless teen who is not aware of her illness until they become much closer. His anger over the unfairness of the situation is eclipsed by Jamie's courage, and her conviction that "without suffering there would be no compassion". It is in fact her suffering that shows him compassion and a love not only for her, but for himself and life. A Walk to Remember changed my perspective on a few things - it made me realize that life is what we make it, as is our suffering. Bec (aged 21)

About Last Night
Centre Stage
Circle of Friends
Crazy Beautiful
Dirty Dancing
Garden State
Good Will Hunting
Juno
Reality Bites
Save the Last Dance
She's the Man
St Elmo's Fire
The Notebook

 

Self image, self esteem and love

Dance With Me
My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Strictly Ballroom
The Mirror has Two Faces
The Truth About Cats & Dogs
Vanilla Sky

 

Unexpected love

A Walk in the Clouds
It Could Happen to You
Knocked Up
Never Again
Stanley & Iris
The Bodyguard
The Bridges of Madison County
Tuck Everlasting

Rekindled love

Mrs Dalloway

Unconventional love

Amelie
Memoirs of a Geisha
Shadowlands
Tim
The Last Samurai
The Next Best Thing
The Phantom of the Opera
The Squid and the Whale
The White Masai
White Palace

 

Forbidden love (culture, society & family)

A Room With a View
Becoming Jane
Brokeback Mountain
Chocolat
Finding Neverland
Get Real
Mississippi Masala
Romeo and Juliet
The Man from Snowy River
The Notebook

Obstructed love (geography & destiny)

A Very Long Engagement
Atonement
Before Sunrise
Before Sunset
Cast Away
Captain Corelli's Mandolin
Charlotte Gray
Cold Mountain
The End of the Affair
The Lakehouse
Titanic

Incompatible love

Contact
Japanese Story
The Break-up
The Way We Were
Tin Cup
Two Weeks Notice

Commitment and mature love

Alfie
An Officer and a Gentleman
Autumn in New York
Failure to Launch
Friends with Money
Hunting and Gathering
In Love and War
Jerry Maguire
Nine Months
Out of Africa
Phenomenon
Something's Gotta Give
The Horse Whisperer
The Notebook
The Story of Us

 

Communication

Before Midnight
Children of a Lesser God
Far from Heaven
Shall We Dance?
The Accidental Tourist
The Doctor

Infatuation

As Good As It Gets
Notes on a Scandel
Notting Hill
Only You
Talk to Her

 

Infidelity

Autumn in New York
Midnight in Paris
Blue
Breaking and Entering
Forever Lulu
Frida
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Heartburn
Hope Floats
In the Land of Women
Match Point
Monsoon Wedding
Sliding Doors
Samsara
Something to Talk About
Sylvia
The Nanny Diaries
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Under the Tuscan Sun

 

Ambivalence

High Fidelity
Intersection
Take this Waltz
Thank God He Met Lizzie

Career and love

Hyde Park on Hudson
Love Actually
Mostly Martha
My Brilliant Career

Sweet November

W.H Davies said "What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare". Sweet November showed me how important it is to stop and notice the wonderful things in life. We get so caught up in work and consumerism, we forget what really matters. Sarah (who is terminally ill) pulls Nelson away from the rat race and shows him how sweet life can be; what he misses while working compulsively around the clock. With Sarah's help, Nelson not only discovers love but a new way of being that engages his heart. It's a beautiful love story and yet so much more. Bec (aged 21)

Walk the Line
What Maisie Knew

 

Alcoholism and love

Angela's Ashes
The Legend of Bagger Vance
The Magic of Belle Isle
When a Man loves a Woman

Photo: Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke from Before Sunset (2004)

 

 

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