The Cinemaniac Corner

Love at All Ages

Yes, I know. I always nod when I hear that there are many kinds of love, many ways of loving and a countless number of different lovers. That I know.

But romantic love is what I want to talk about. Because romantic love is always in our minds, from the very early years of our childhood (I remember falling in love at the age of six, at the nursery!) to the very last days of our lives; and also because it is one of the thorniest topics ever written about.

And specifically, I want to write about romantic love in the seventh art. A huge topic, isn’t it? There are hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of movies that have taken our breath away with romantic love stories.

One of the most popular teenage love movies could be that epic romantic disaster film from 1997 called 'Titanic':

The very thorny habit of people from different social classes falling in love with one another, the fate of an enormously big ship sinking in the dark ocean, the unexpected lack of room in the rescue boats. Indeed, a great love story for the young. Cool! Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio actually did a very good job, if not at all original.

Everyday adult love is surely another thing. Real problems come up, and monotony frequently appears. This is not what happened to the main characters of the film titled 'When a Man Loves a Woman' (1994), starring Meg Ryan and Andy García. In this story, a couple with two children is involved in a thorny relationship marred by alcoholism and several attempts at rehab. It seemed to me that this kind of American romantic marriage problem might not be as rare as we suppose. Very moving!

And do you think love can stay alive in the last years of our lives? If you have any doubts, please take a glance at that most romantic of love stories, 'On Golden Pond' (1981), whose main characters played by Katherine Hepburn and Henry Fonda make you believe it.

It's true that love appears mainly on the side of Ethel (Katherine Hepburn), and that the thorny issue here is that of Norman (Henry Fonda) and his daughter Chelsea (Jane Fonda) and her family, who, by the way, were in fact father and daughter in real life; but the day-by-day lives of the group in a summer cottage on the shore of a lake is really unforgettable.

 

And last but not least, there is the newest Ken Loach movie, 'The Angels Share' (2012). I’m not going to say much about this film because it is currently showing in cinemas, but… if you think that a love story complete with juvenile delinquency in a Glasgow slum, a community service officer with a taste for whisky and a funny, thorny adventure in the Highlands, together with the redeeming birth of a baby might amuse you, don't miss this one!

So, beware of falling in love… you can fall into so many other things as well: the sea, a lake, a whisky vat!

The Thanksgiving Turkey