As an art form, cinema has long had the pretension of capturing, from a set of frames, the different ways in which human feelings can be expressed. Very different feelings interpreted by actors who tried to express them as intensely as possible.

And, of course, love has always played a very relevant role in this group of affections that characterizes us . That’s why the seventh art is prolific in romantic films, although not all of them are especially recommendable.

Love in the seventh art: recommended romantic films

However, that does not mean that there are many film works with which to reflect on love. Here I propose a selection of romantic films that explore the theme of love in its different facets.

1. Moonrise Kingdom

In Moonrise Kingdom, two young people meet, fall in love and decide to leave everything behind. The problem is that they are still far from coming of age. Funny and biting comedy about teenage love and the inability of adults to tame the youthful impetus . Besides, being a play by Wes Anderson, it could perfectly be on the podium of the best directed romantic films.

You can see the trailer in this video:

2. The Madison Bridges

The romantic story lived between Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood in The Bridges of Madison has transformed this film into one of the classics of love movies. It is a melodrama starring mature characters who, on meeting each other, see their way of conceiving life falter . In this sense, it is very different from the usual romantic films in which the passionate and spontaneous love of young people whose ideas about the world are particularly mobile is narrated.

3. Under the same star

This film tells the love story between Hazel, a lung cancer patient, and Augustus, a former basketball player who had to have his leg amputated . Both are involved in a love relationship that they know cannot last, as Hazel’s health will get worse and worse.

4. The Giant Mechanical Man

A demonstration that excellent love movies can also be made on a moderate budget . The story of a human statue and a woman who passes by the same place many times gives rise to the construction of one of those stories that capture the credibility of the characters and the subtlety with which their emotions are expressed.

5. Love Actually

The funniest side of love is portrayed in this acclaimed British film released in 2003. In this storytelling crossover, different characters experience romance from its most bizarre and funny side . Highly recommended.

You can see his trailer in this video:

6. High Fidelity

The conversion of Nick Hornby’s novel of the same name to a movie is one of the most recommended romantic films. It tells the story of a thirty-something man in his early twenties who, in addition to having to face an economic situation that could lead him to disaster , intends to return to his ex-girlfriend, with whom he is still in love.

7. Annie Hall

Woody Allen in all his splendor reflecting on love (or, rather, lack of love) from that point of view so biting and ironic that characterizes him . His digressions into other subjects are also particularly amusing, a feature very typical of the excellent scripts with which this director is accustomed to working.

8. Lars and a real girl

The counterpoint to a love story is that one of the two partners… doesn’t exist. There are few romantic films in which the girl is actually an Internet-bought doll. Lars and a real girl confront us with the uncomfortable issue of whether attachment or love can exist when the person we fall in love with only inhabits our imagination , and what is the nature of love when it has no real person to fall in love with.

9. When Harry found Sally

One of those romantic films in which the chemistry that is established between the protagonists is captured from the very first moment. Moreover, is a story that demolishes clichés in its treatment of human relationships and makes us reflect on the boundaries between falling in love and friendship . One of the great classics of the 1980s, and for good reason.

10. (500) days together

Film about love, covering most of the lights and shadows of this concept . Here all the phases of falling in love appear, from the moment you meet a person until you have to manage the emotions derived from the separation.

Here you can see the trailer:

11.And your mother too (2001)

One of the classics of Mexican cinema , this work is also one of the best known romantic films in the Spanish-speaking world.It tells the story of a love triangle lived by some young people who not long ago left their adolescence behind, from a raw and realistic perspective.

12.Weekend (2011)

One of the most interesting films about homosexual relationships.Weekend is committed to realism and explores love by raising questions about its identity, the way it can evolve and involve us in a spiral of experiences that we can never fully control and, in the case of a gay couple, also the problems posed by censorship and social pressure .

13.Before Dawn (1995)

Two young people from different continents meet and, knowing that in a few hours they will have to separate to return home, decide to walk and talk through the streets of Vienna.The film basically consists of this walk and the dialogues that take place along the way, about the way in which both young people understand love and imagine what a future together would have been like. Its two sequels are also highly recommended .

14.Blue Valentine (2010)

Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in one of the most dramatic romantic films ever made.It recounts the couple’s desperate attempts to revive their relationship and make their family no longer dysfunctional due, in large part, to social pressure and work.

This is the trailer in Spanish:

15.Chico & Rita (2010)

A story that mixes the romance on the streets of Havana, the music and the graphic style of the well-known designer Javier Mariscal.Created from a technique called rotoscoping in which he draws on top of the frames that capture the performance of real actors, this romantic film about an impossible love is a true spectacle for the senses in which the way things are communicated is more important than the plot.

Bonus track: Ghost, beyond love (1990)

If this film does not appear in the selection of the 15 best romantic films as such, it is because despite having been very successful I consider that it does not lend itself too much to reflection.However, I have decided to include this mention to remind those who have not seen it that it is always good to know this type of popular culture classics so that, perhaps it can be included in your particular selection of love films .