griggs's - ReelRomance 2025: Ranked List
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The Cranes Are Flying (1957)Letyat Zhuravli
This landmark film by the virtuosic Mikhail Kalatozov was heralded as a revelation in the post-Stalin Soviet Union and the international cinema community alike. It tells the story of Veronica (Tatiana Samoilova) and Boris (Alexei Batalov), a couple who are blissfully in love until World War II tears them apart. With Boris at the front, Veronica must try to ward off spiritual numbness and defend herself from the increasingly forceful advances of her beau's draft-dodging cousin. - Director:
- Mikhail Kalatozov
- Cast:
- Tatyana Samoylova, Aleksey Batalov, Vasiliy Merkurev
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Scenes from a Marriage (1974)Scener ur ett äktenskap
An intimate exploration of a disintergrating marriage, this powerful drama features faultless performances from two of Bergman's greatest acting collaborators - Liv Ullmann and Erland Josephson. When Marraine (Liv Ullmann) discovers that her husband, Johan (Erland Josephson), is involved with a younger woman she re-evaluates her life and the importance of her marriage. Time passes, their relationship changes and the couple divorce. Then - years later - they have an illicit affair during which they talk with frankness and understanding about their feelings for one another. - Director:
- Ingmar Bergman
- Cast:
- Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Bibi Andersson
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A Brighter Summer Day (1991)Gu ling jie shao nian sha ren shi jian
Among the most highly praised titles in all contemporary film, this singular masterpiece of Taiwanese cinema, directed by Edward Yang, was unavailable for years and much sought after. Set in the early 1960s, 'A Brighter Summer Day' is based on the true story of a crime that rocked Taiwan. A film of both sprawling scope and tender intimacy, this novelistic, patiently observed epic centers on the gradual but inexorable fall of a young teenager (Chang Chen, in his first role) from innocence to delinquency, and is set against a simmering backdrop of restless youth, rock and roll, and political turmoil. - Director:
- Edward Yang
- Cast:
- Chen Chang, Lisa Yang, Kuo-Chu Chang
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The Night (1961)La Notte
Two of the giants of film-acting come together as a married couple living in crisis: Marcello Mastroianni and Jeanne Moreau. He is a renowned author and 'public intellectual'; she is 'the wife. ' Over the course of one day and the night into which it inevitably bleeds, the pair will come to re-examine their emotional bonds, and grapple with the question of whether love and communication are even possible in a world built out of profligate idylls and sexual hysteria. - Director:
- Michelangelo Antonioni
- Cast:
- Jeanne Moreau, Marcello Mastroianni, Monica Vitti
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The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)Les parapluies de Cherbourg
Guy Foucher (Nino Castelnuovo), a 20-year-old French auto mechanic, has fallen in love with 17-year-old Genevieve Emery (Catherine Deneuve), an employee in her widowed mother's chic but financially embattled umbrella shop. On the evening before Guy is to leave for a two-year tour of combat in Algeria, the pair share a passionate night. Genevieve becomes pregnant and then must choose between waiting for Guy's return or accepting an attractive offer of marriage from a wealthy diamond merchant (Marc Michel). - Director:
- Jacques Demy
- Cast:
- Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon
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The Lunchbox (2013)Dabba
When Saajan (Irrfan Khan), an ill-tempered Mumbai office worker nearing retirement, is delivered the wrong lunch he is pleasantly surprised by the improvement in his food. The lunchbox had been intended for young housewife Ila's emotionally indifferent husband in an attempt to win back his favour. When he fails to respond to her efforts, Ila decides to enclose a note in the next meal and Saajan, his taste-buds tickled and his interest piqued, decides to write back... - Director:
- Ritesh Batra
- Cast:
- Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui
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Jules and Jim (1962)Jules et Jim
Spanning two decades at the start of the 20th century, "Jules and Jim" follows the lives of two inseparable friends - timid German, Jules (Oskar Werner), and gregarious Parisian, Jim (Henri Serre) - and their shared love of the beautiful, capricious Catherine, played in mesmerising, luminous style by Jeanne Moreau. Overcoming the destructive rift of World War I the trio create a new life for themselves, away from the structures imposed by society. But as the idyllic menage a trois begins to succumb to jealousy and rivalry their idealised existence finds itself slowly buckling under pressure. Frequently hailed as one of the greatest films ever made, "Jules and Jim" is a dazzling, boldly original tale of love, friendship and the vagaries of history that combines romance, comedy and tragedy in breathtaking, near-perfect dramatic harmony. - Director:
- François Truffaut
- Cast:
- Michel Subor, Jeanne Moreau, Oskar Werner
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A Special Day (1977)Una giornata particolare
It's 1938 and Rome comes to a standstill as Hitler visits Mussolini for the first time. Antonietta is left in her tenement home whilst her fascist husband and the rest of her family leave to attend the historic event. The whole building is empty apart from one man, Gabriele, a radio announcer sacked because of his homosexuality and his political views. Unaware of this Antonietta flirts with Gabriele as they meet by chance in the empty building. They strike up a conversation and the rather naive housewife is surprised by his opinions and shocked when she finally realises his sexual orientation. As the day progresses they develop a very special relationship that will radically alter both their outlooks on life forever... - Director:
- Ettore Scola
- Cast:
- Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, John Vernon
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Pierrot le Fou (1965)Pierrot Goes Wild / Crazy Pete
Based on Lionel White's novel 'Obsession', 'Pierrot le Fou' transforms a story about a couple on the run into an entertaining, existential romance. Tired of his bourgeois life, Ferdinand Griffon (Jean-Paul Belmondo) leaves his wife and elopes with his former baby sitter, Marianne (Anna Karina). When a dead body is found in Marianne's apartment, the two lovers flee to the South of France in a futile bid to escape Marianne's dangerous past. - Director:
- Jean-Luc Godard
- Cast:
- Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani
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"Sing Street" takes us back to 1980's Dublin, where an economic recession forces Conor out of his comfortable private school and into survival mode at the inner-city public school. He finds hope in the mysterious and über-cool Raphina, and with the aim of winning her heart, invites her to star in his band's music videos - without actually having a band! After renaming calling himself "Cosmo", Conor forms a band with a few lads and they dedicate their time into writing lyrics and shooting videos. Combining John Carney's trademark warmth and humour and a brilliant soundtrack with hits from The Cure, The Police, and Genesis, 'Sing Street' will have you dancing in your seat! - Director:
- John Carney
- Cast:
- Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Aidan Gillen, Maria Doyle Kennedy
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Charles Chaplin's Limelight is a glimmering homage to what was, a proud look at a bygone entertainment era and a bittersweet tale of an artist passing the torch to a new generation. Chaplin portrays Calvero (the "tramp comedian" per an old theatrical poster in his room), who rescues a distraught ballerina from suicide and mentors her to success. Among the film's comedy highlights is a musical routine that's anything but routine in the hands of legend Chaplin and stoney-faced Buster Keaton. The extraordinary score by Chaplin, Raymond Rasch and Larry Russell earned the screen legend his only competitive Oscar. - Director:
- Charles Chaplin
- Cast:
- Charles Chaplin, Claire Bloom, Nigel Bruce
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Barbara Stanwyck plays a nightclub singer whose snappy street slang attracts the attention of bookish encyclopaedia editor Gary Cooper and his aged bachelor colleagues who devote their lives to compiling the perfect encyclopeadia. At first, their interest in her is strictly professional, but she soon charms the old men into letting her hide from the police (and her gangster boyfriend) in their mansion, Initially, she resents her forced stay, but after a while she falls for the charm of bookworm Cooper, and makes him realise there is more to life than books. - Director:
- Howard Hawks
- Cast:
- Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck, Oskar Homolka
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"I've been looking for a girl every Saturday night of my life", says Marty Piletti (Ernest Borgnine). Yet, despite all his efforts, this 34-year-old Bronx butcher remains as shy and uncomfortable around women today as on the day he was born. So when he meets Clara (Betsy Blair), a lonely schoolteacher who's just as smitten with him as he is with her, Marty's on top of the world. But not everyone around him shares Marty's joy. And when his friends and family continually find fault with Clara, even Marty begins to question his newfound love... until he discovers, in an extraordinary way, the strength and courage to follow his heart. - Director:
- Delbert Mann
- Cast:
- Ernest Borgnine, Betsy Blair, Esther Minciotti
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3-Iron (2004)Bin-Jip
"3-Iron" is an enchanting and ghostly love story set in modern day Korea. Tae-suk (Hee Jae) is a young drifter who enters strangers' houses - and lives - whilst their owners are away. He spends a night or a day in each house, repaying the owner's unwitting hospitality by doing their laundry or small repairs. His life changes when he enters the mansion of a wealthy businessman. Inside, he discovers that he's not alone - Sun-hwa (Seung-yeon Lee), a former model, is quietly crouching inside her bedroom, her face badly bruised. When Sun-hwa's abusive husband (Hyuk-ho Kwon) returns, Tae-suk takes her away and the two begin living a ghostly existence in strangers' empty homes. - Director:
- Ki-duk Kim
- Cast:
- Seung-yeon Lee, Hyun-kyoon Lee, Hyuk-ho Kwon
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The Green Ray (1986)Le Rayon Vert / Summer
Delphine's travelling companion cancels two weeks before her holiday, so Delphine (Marie Rivière), a Parisian secretary, is at a loose end. She doesn't want to travel by herself, but has no means boyfriend and seems unable to meet new people. A friend takes her to Cerbourg; after a few days there, the weepy and self pitying Delphine goes back to Paris. She tries the Alps, but returns the same day. Next, it's the beach; once there, she chats with an outgoing Swede, a party girl, and a friendship seems to bud; then suddenly, Delphine bolts, heading back to Paris. On her way, a young man catches her eye; perhaps a sunset and the sun's green ray await. - Director:
- Eric Rohmer
- Cast:
- Marie Rivière, María Luisa García, Vincent Gauthier
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