Most of us
grew up with the Disney versions of fairy tales like the Sleeping Beauty
and the Snow White. Romance was introduced into our lives through the
love stories of princes and princesses who were destined to live happily
ever after. Romance in films is problematically idealised and
embellished to the point that it looks staged and fake.
Even if the
heroes are not of an aristocratic breed they have to be stylised, they
know when to say the perfect lines and how to move their faces and
bodies in the perfect way. Seductive femme fatales that fall for brawny
enforcers of the law, poor tramps that lose their minds for the gracious
ladies and brave warriors that save the virtuous girls have shaped our
expectations about what our love story should be like.
Reality check-
is this the way that it’s supposed to be? Are the aforementioned film
characters what true people look or behave like? The films of this lists
challenge stereotypical expectations and conventions. Their heroes are
as original as their romances and they offer a depiction for love that
is warm and not made of plastic.
Unique,
imaginative and unforgettable love stories are born inside them and they
invite us in a cinematic trip filled with emotions diverse and
authentic. The question that they are called to answer is what is love
actually and their answers are unexpected an uncompromising, befitting
to the essence of genuine romance.
1. Lars and the Real Girl (Craig Gillespie, 2007)
Lars is a
young, introvert man who doesn’t seem able to find a place to fit in. He
is detached from his family, co-workers and acquaintances and his
behaviour is, at the least, eccentric. This last characteristic of his
personality is even more highlighted when he brings home a human sized
and realistic plastic doll whom he presents to everyone as his
girlfriend.
With the
encouragement of a psychologist the people of his social circle will be
advised to pretend to believe him, in order to uncover the source of his
delusional actions.
Lars and the
Real Girl is unconventional on various levels. Avoiding to present Lars
as an emotionally handicapped man who is pitied by everyone around him,
the hero is treated normally with genuine appreciation and care. His
friends even go as far as liking his fake girlfriend, sympathising with
Lars and sharing his living fantasy with him.
Furthermore,
the exposition of the roots of his emotional problems and their
confrontation is given gradually and in respect with his special
personality. The film is sweet and filled with emotions without falling
in the usual pitfall of forcing the viewer’s emotions.
2. Chungking Express (Wong Kar-wai, 1994)
Expired
pineapple cans, shocking wet towels, toy airplanes and chef’s salads;
everything is reminiscent of love in Wong Kar-wai’s most feel-good film.
Two cops grieve the end of their relationships with the women that they
deeply loved when they bump into other women who will radically change
their lives.
The plot of
the film is untangled in two different storylines that intersect only
because of the existence of a restaurant that the two men patron. All of
the characters of the film are perfectly constructed with unique
personalities and habits that make the viewer sympathise with their
misfortunes.
The film is
filled with metaphors and parallelisms and the endings of both story
lines are left open. Every single detail is given in a deeply
imaginative way and its romantic atmosphere is melancholic and hopeful
at the same time. Even if the dialogues and the events of the film seem
absurd and highly unrealistic a closer look elevates them as deep
philosophical questionings on the true nature of love.
3. Castaway on the Moon (Hae-jun Lee, 2009)
One of the
most original and heart-felt films that South Korea has ever produced,
Castaway on the Moon narrates the love story of two young people who
literally live in the margins of society. Seung-geun is a young man who
decides to commit suicide by jumping into the Han river from a bridge.
His attempt fails and he is carried away by the tide to a small island
where he decides to start his life anew.
On the other
side of the river resides Jung-geon, a girl who suffers by agoraphobia
and never leaves her room, spending her hours on the Internet. Her only
connection with the outside world is offered by a camera that she uses
in order to observe and photograph the moon.
When Jung-geon
notices Seung-geun’s existence on the isolated island, the two of them
start communicating in an unorthodox way. The man writes messages in the
sand and the woman decides to respond by throwing bottled messages into
the river. Shivering and panicking she makes her first steps outside
her house.
After a group
of workers kick out Seung-geun from his refuge area, Jung-geon is
called to leave her fears behind once and for all in order to find her
beloved castaway again. The final sequence of the film is
heartbreakingly intense as the two heroes face the danger of getting
lost with each other forever.
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