There are several aspects to reflect upon. A reciprocal love relation could be forbidden by other human beings (close relatives, social authorities etc.), but it could also be impossible because of physical circumstances.
And the prohibition need not have any direct connection with the love. Just suppose that the man was a bank robber.
And one person's very deep love may not be reciprocated.
Even if all movies on my list are about love, it could be doubted that all of them are "romances".
"To livadi pou dakryzei" (Weeping Meadow) by Angelopoulos, Theodor (Greece, 2003)
Few would dispute that this is Angelopoulos's best movie. The young couple escapes the day when the boys old father had intended to marry the girl, and a part of the movie is about the difficulties of making a living. But eventually political aspects will become important.
"Veer-Zaara" by Chopra, Yash (India, 2004)
Neither here is there any doubt about the deep reciprocal love. Somehow a quite different man marries the girl and manages to send the boy in prison under a false name. This married man makes it clear to the prisoner that whatever he may do will lead to revenge on his beloved. So he spends 22 years in prison without complaining.
"L'oiseau du paradis" (Bird of Paradise) by Camus, Marcel (France, 1962)
I have not seen this movie since 1964. It has the highest priority among all movies I want to see. I recall that there is both love and criminality and death and Buddhist mysticism: a hope that the loving couple will meet each other in a later reincanation.
"L'immortelle" (The Undeadly One) by Robbe-Grillet, Alain (France, 1963)
The girl is married and must take great care not to be exposed, so she will more than once suddenly disappear from her lover. She dies in a traffic accident, but the accident occurred because she on rather deserted way she suddenly saw her husband with his two dogs.
[Some reviewer claims that the girl possible is a member of a gang that kidnaps young girls for prostitution. I am totally incapable of gathering how anybody could extract that from the movie. I have read the film manus in English, and many times in German, and also a part of it in French, and I have seen the movie numerous times.
"Petrina Chronia" (Years of Stone) by Voulgaris, Pantelis (Greece, 1985)
Read the excellent plot summary. The authorities do not care about love, but both are jailed for political reasons. After having been a loving couple for 20 years and been married for a lar proportion, they realise that during these 20 years they have been spent only 70 hours together.
"Den lilla flickan och den stora kärleken" (The Little Girl and the Great Love) by Geer, Marie-Louise de (Sweden, 1986)
The central point is that the little girl is a dwarf, and her love is not reciprocated.
"Liebelei" by Ophüls, Max (Germany, 1933)
The woman is married and the husband is not blind.
"Der dibek" (Dybbuk) by Waszynski, Michal (Poland, 1937)
This is considered the best Yiddish movie ever released. It is impossible to write a brief plot summary.
"You Only Live Once" by Lang, Fritz (USA, 1937)
Once again only the man is searched for by the police.
"They Live by Night" by Ray, Nicholas (USA, 1948)
Only the man is searcher for by the police.
"A Streetcar Named Desire" by Kazan, Elia (USA, 1950)
Mitch is really in love with Blanche. She conceals that she is a highly promiscuous nymphomaniac.
"The Glass Menagerie" by Rapper, Irving (USA, 1950)
Yes, Laura is in love with Jim, but he is engaged elsewhere.
"Popiol i diament" (Ashes and Diamonds) by Wajda, Andrzej (Poland, 1958)
During the German occupation all Polish groups of resistance (nobile, bourgeois, worker) had collaborated. But on the first day of freedom they start to fight each other. Into this is a beautiful love story weaved.
"Utsukushisa to kanashimi to" (With Beauty and Sorrow) by Shinoda, Masahiro (Japan, 1965)
Read the plot summary.
"La dentellière" (The Lace-Maker) by Goretta, Claude (France, 1977)
During the first half of the movie we may think that this is an idyllic romance. We will eventually learn something else.
"Iphigenia" by Cacoyannis, Michael (Greece, 1977)
The man who loves Iphigenia writes to her that she must under no circumstances come to him. The reason is that the decision has already been made to kill and sacrifice her. But she believes that he had decided to marry another woman, and immediately goes to him.
"Tess" by Polanski, Roman (UK, 1979)
No doubt that Tess loves her husband, but he has an intertwined pattern of many kinds of feelings, some of them a mixture of romanticism and superstition.
"Hoffmanns Erzählungen" (Hoffmann's Tales) by Kaslic, Vaclav (Germany, 1986)
I have included this film into my list because I think it is the best example ever of an opera adapted for the screen.
"Monsieur Hire" by Leconte, Patrice (France, 1989)
The man loves the girl, but she just tries to have him convicted of the murder her boyfriend had committed.
"Hong fen" (Shadows of Red) by Shaohong, Li (China, 1994)
I do not know how to do justice to this movie in a few words.
"Mee Pok Man" by Khoo, Eric (Singapore, 1995)
Read my user review.
- - - All in all, this was a lot of love, but not a lot of romanticism.
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