Acorn

Issue date: 2/15/08 Section: Arts and Leisure

Media Credit: Victoria Webbe

Somewhere along the line, it seems Hollywood decided that romances had to fulfill two basic criteria. First, they had to be silly comedies or tragic melodramas. Second, they had to be completely devoid of anything remotely resembling intelligence. Just look at what passes for a "romantic comedy" these days. In honor of Valentine's Day, I selected films that have managed this task with humor, emotional honesty and a genuine feel for the romantic.

"Harold and Maude" (1971)

Hal Ashby's cult classic is still, almost 40 years later, one of the most poignant films about a relationship made. Granted, the relationship is an unconventional one: Harold is a death-obsessed teenager and Maude is a 79-year-old spitfire. They meet at a funeral, he offers to let her drive his hearse and she shows him how to enjoy life. "Harold and Maude" is a film that celebrates the joy and sorrow of people coming to depend on one another for companionship and understanding.

"In the Mood for Love" (2000)

Chinese superstars Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung generate more palpable romantic intensity in this lyrical, jaw-dropping, gorgeous film from Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai than any Hollywood pairing has done in years.

And the real kicker is that their relationship is never consummated onscreen. As neighbors in 1960's Hong Kong who realize their spouses are cheating on them with one another, the two actors put more feeling into every tense, aching silence than most do with pages of verbose dialogue. "In the Mood for Love" is a truly intoxicating film.

"Annie Hall" (1977)

Woody Allen's masterpiece is, on its surface, the simple story of the relationship between a man and a woman-unforgettably portrayed by Diane Keaton.

But such a reductive summary can't do justice to this film's madly innovative blend of autobiographical anecdotes, meta-theatrical throwaway gags and Allen's trademark verbal sparring. Rather than tell the story conventionally, Allen deconstructs the relationship, shatters the fourth wall, and invites his audience to examine each element. The result is one of the most painfully honest and undeniably hilarious romantic comedies today.

"Before Sunrise" (1995)

"Before Sunrise" is the story of Jesse and Celine, two attractive twenty-somethings who meet on a train to Vienna and spend a single evening together before parting ways. The film is alive with the possibility of unexpected romance, and Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are wonderfully charismatic as the would-be lovers.

"Before Sunset" (2004)

I included both Richard Linklater films because while each is great in its own right, together they comprise one of the most nuanced studies I ever saw of how people and relationships inevitably change over time.

However, "Before Sunset" is the story of Jesse and Celine's chance meeting in Paris nine years later, and as lovely as the first film is, it's "Sunset" that lingers in the memory, as the two are forced to confront how much the years changed them.

Watch these films with that special someone or enjoy them alone-the most wonderful thing about great films is that they're always there when you need them.

I hope you'll find a film, either from this all-too-brief list or from somewhere completely different, to remind you how incredibly rare and marvelous it can be to connect with another person. Isn't that what Valentine's Day is all about?

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