Romance film

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
"Love film" redirects here. For the UK-based video service, see LoveFilm.
For other uses, see Romance.

Tyrone Power passionately embraces Alice Faye in the 1938 film Alexander's Ragtime
Band.
Romance films or romance movies are romantic love stories recorded in visual media
for broadcast in theaters and on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the
affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters and the journey that their
love takes them through dating, courtship or marriage. Romance films make the
romantic love story or the search for strong and pure love and romance the main
plot focus. Occasionally, romance lovers face obstacles such as finances, physical
illness, various forms of discrimination, psychological restraints or family that
threaten to break their union of love. As in all quite strong, deep and close
romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life, temptations (of infidelity),
and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films.[1]

Romantic films often explore the essential themes of love at first sight, young
with older love, unrequited romantic love, obsessive love, sentimental love,
spiritual love, forbidden love, platonic love, sexual and passionate love,
sacrificial love, explosive and destructive love, and tragic love. Romantic films
serve as great escapes and fantasies for viewers, especially if the two people
finally overcome their difficulties, declare their love, and experience life
"happily ever after", implied by a reunion and final kiss. In romantic television
series, the development of such romantic relationships may play out over many
episodes or different characters may become intertwined in different romantic arcs.

Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identifies Romance Films as one of eleven
super-genres in his screenwriters’ taxonomy, claiming that all feature length
narrative films can be classified by these super-genres. The other ten super-genres
are action, crime, fantasy, horror, science fiction, slice of life, sports,
thriller, war and western.[2]

Contents
1 Subgenres
1.1 Historical romance
1.2 Romantic drama
1.3 Chick flick
1.4 Bromantic comedy
1.5 Romantic comedy
1.6 Romantic action
1.7 Romantic thriller
1.8 Gothic romance
1.9 Romantic fantasy
1.10 Paranormal romance
1.11 Musical romance
2 Film types, macro genres and the filmmaker's voice
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
Subgenres

Poster for Gone With the Wind (1939).

Historical romance
Main article: Historical romance
Also known as Epic romance, this is a romantic story with a historical period
setting, normally with a turbulent backdrop of war, revolution or tragedy. This
includes films such as Titanic, Gone with the Wind, Reds, Doctor Zhivago and Cold
War (Zimna wojna).

Romantic drama
Romantic dramas usually revolve around an obstacle which prevents deep and true
love between two people. Music is often employed to indicate the emotional mood,
creating an atmosphere of greater insulation for the couple. The conclusion of a
romantic drama typically does not indicate whether a final romantic union between
the two main characters will occur. Some examples of romantic drama films are
Casablanca, Before Midnight, The Artist, Slumdog Millionaire, Up in the Air, Gloria
Bell, Before Sunset, Before Sunrise, Shakespeare in Love, The Bridges of Madison
County, The English Patient, María Candelaria, Daughters of the Dust, Sommersby,
Coming Home, Big Night, Memoirs of a Geisha, Last Tango in Paris, Water for
Elephants, On the Waterfront, Love Story, Man's Way with Women, Like Water for
Chocolate and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge. Same-sex romantic dramas, which tackle
LGBT issues include Brokeback Mountain, Blue Is the Warmest Colour and Call Me by
Your Name.[3]

Chick flick
Main article: Chick flick
Chick flick is a term often associated with romance films as many are targeted to a
female audience.[4][5] Although many romance films may be targeted at women, this
is not a defining characteristic of a romance film and a chick flick does not
necessarily have a romance as a central theme, revolve around the romantic
involvement of characters or even contain a romantic relationship. As such, the
terms cannot be used interchangeably. Films of this genre include Gilda, The Lost
Weekend, The Red Shoes, Sense and Sensibility, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Dirty
Dancing, The Notebook, Dear John, A Walk to Remember, Fifty Shades of Grey and
Romeo + Juliet.

Bromantic comedy
Main article: Bromantic comedy
A bromantic comedy is a comedy film genre that takes the formula of the typical
“romantic comedy” but focuses on close male friendships.[6] The word “bromance” is
a close but non-sexual relationship between two or more men.[7] Notable bromantic
comedy films are Shaun of the Dead, Superbad, I Love You, Man, Step Brothers, Bull
Durham and About a Boy.[8] Popular and common elements or themes of bromantic
comedies include; male bonding, bromance, and conflicts with heterosexual bonding,
with the addition of humour.[9] Aspects of bromantic comedies, including male
camaraderie, were first seen in Barry Levinson's 1982 film Diner.[10]

Romantic comedy
Main article: Romantic comedy
Romantic comedies are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on
romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. Humour
in such films tends to be of a verbal, low-key variety or situational, as opposed
to slapstick.[11] Films within this genre include City Lights, A Night at the
Opera, It Happened One Night, The Philadelphia Story, Intolerable Cruelty, Roman
Holiday, The Big Sick, Enough Said, Lost In Translation, To All the Boys I've Loved
Before, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Dave, Say Anything..., Moonstruck, As Good as
It Gets, Something's Gotta Give, When Harry Met Sally..., Annie Hall, Manhattan,
The Apartment and Pablo and Carolina.

Romantic action
Romantic action is a film that blend romance and action. Examples include Foreign
Correspondent, The Best Years of Our Lives , The Adventures of Robin Hood, From
Here to Eternity, The Quiet Man, The Torch, The Town, Killers, Knight and Day, Mr.
& Mrs. Smith, This Means War and The Bounty Hunter.

Romantic thriller
Main article: Romantic thriller
Romantic thriller is a genre of film which has a storyline combining elements of
the romance film and the thriller genre. Some examples of romantic thriller films
are To Catch a Thief, Vertigo, The Adjustment Bureau, West Side Story, The Phantom
of the Opera, The Tourist, The Crying Game, Unfaithful, The Bodyguard and Wicker
Park.[12]

Gothic romance
Main article: Gothic romance film
Gothic romance is a film genre which includes gothic elements and affirms feminine
experiences, perceptions and interpretations of their “fear, anger, and distrust of
patriarchal order”.[13] A key feature of gothic romance films is the "Bluebeard
motif". This typically refers to secrets or forbidden rooms or areas in a house,
which represent female protagonists’ repressions. This common characteristic is
based on a variation of the Bluebeard folktale of a wealthy man who forbids his new
wife from entering his castle's underground chamber, to which she finds the corpses
of his many former wives. Some examples of gothic romance films include Crimson
Peak, Rebecca, Suspicion and Gaslight.

Romantic fantasy
Main article: Romantic fantasy
Romantic fantasies describe fantasy stories using many of the elements and
conventions of the romance genre. Some examples include The Lady Eve, Top Hat, The
Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg), Singin' in the Rain,
Groundhog Day, Enchanted, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless Mind, Midnight in Paris and Her.[14]

Paranormal romance
Paranormal romance is a popular genre of film which features romantic relationships
between humans and supernatural creatures.[15] Popular tropes include vampirism,
time travel, ghosts and psychic or telekinetic abilities – i.e. things that cannot
be explained by science.[16] The genre originated in literature and moved on to the
screen in the early 2000s, following the success of the Twilight Saga adaptations
from Stephenie Meyer's books.[17] By 2007–08, film studios were producing various
paranormal romance films, many adapted from novels.[17] Examples of paranormal
romance films include The Shape of Water, Warm Bodies, The Twilight Saga, Emerald
Green, Vampire Academy, I Am Dragon and The Exterminating Angel.[citation needed]

Musical romance
Musical romance is a genre of film which features romantic relationships and who's
story is partially explained through song and/or dance numbers. This genre
originated on Broadway and moved to the silver screen thanks in part to the
popularity of the Rodgers and Hammerstein productions. Some examples include
Sunshine on Leith, Grease, South Pacific and the Mamma Mia! franchise.

Film types, macro genres and the filmmaker's voice

The screenwriters taxonomy creates additional categories beyond "subgenre" when
discussing films, making the argument that all narrative Hollywood films can be
delineated into comedies or dramas (identified as a "film type").[18] The taxonomy
also identifies fifty "macro genres", which can be paired with the romance super
genre.[19] Using this approach, films like Gone with the Wind (noted above) would
be classified as a dramatic (type) historical/family (macro genres) romance (genre)
rather than simply a historical romance; while The Notebook would be identified at
dramatic (type) disease (macro genre) romance (genre) rather than simply a romantic
drama.[20]
Similarly, musicals are categorized as one option for a filmmaker’s "voice" because
the artistic choice to have the characters sing does not affect the story or the
characters – it simply alters how the story and characters are conveyed.[21]
Therefore, a romance film like Grease would be categorized as a dramatic (type),
romance (super genre), high school / coming of age (macro genres), musical (voice)
– rather than simply as a "musical romance".[22]

See also
List of romance films
AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions
Romantic comedy
Drama film
Interracial romance film
Romance literature
Romance novel
Romance (love)
References
"Romance films". Filmsite.org. Retrieved 10 November 2016.
Williams, Eric R. (2017). The screenwriters taxonomy : a roadmap to collaborative
storytelling. New York, NY: Routledge Studies in Media Theory and Practice. ISBN
978-1-315-10864-3. OCLC 993983488. P. 21
Dixon, Wheeler W. (2000), Film genre 2000: new critical essays, The SUNY series,
cultural studies in cinema/video, SUNY Press, p. 238, ISBN 0-7914-4514-3
Simpson, John, ed. (2009). Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, on CD-ROM
Version 4.0. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-956383-8.
Stevenson, Angus; Lindberg, Christine A., eds. (2010). New Oxford American
Dictionary, Third Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 300. ISBN 978-0-
19-539288-3.
"Patterson, John Edward, (died 4 April 1919), littérateur", Who Was Who, Oxford
University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u201429
"Reading the bromance: homosocial relationships in film and television". Choice
Reviews Online. 52 (2): 52–0739–52–0739. 22 September 2014. doi:10.5860/choice.52-
0739. ISSN 0009-4978.
"Best "Bro" Movies (Bromance)". IMDb. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
Moss, Chris (1 February 2016). "A fine bromance: the 12 rules of male friendship".
The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on 2022-01-11. Retrieved
27 November 2019.
Macdougall, John (18 January 2014). "The New Yorker & Me: Barry Levinson's
"Diner": Kael vs. Wolcott". The New Yorker & Me. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
"Romantic Comedy". AllRovi. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011.
Retrieved 10 November 2016.
"Wicker Park (2004)". AllRovi. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011.
Retrieved 10 November 2016.
Waldman, Diane (1984). ""At Last I Can Tell It to Someone!": Feminine Point of
View and Subjectivity in the Gothic Romance Film of the 1940s". Cinema Journal. 23
(2): 29–40. doi:10.2307/1225123. JSTOR 1225123.
William C. Robinson (October 2004). "A Few Thoughts on the Fantasy Genre".
University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Retrieved 18 January 2009.
Panse, S.; Rothermel, D. (24 April 2014). A Critique of Judgment in Film and
Television. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-01418-4.
Tobin-McClain, Lee (2000). "Paranormal Romance: Secretsof the Female Fantastic".
Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts. 11 (3 (43)): 294–306. ISSN 0897-0521. JSTOR
43308461.
Crawford, Joseph. (2014). The twilight of the Gothic. Vampire fiction and the rise
of the paranormal romance. University of Wales Press. ISBN 978-1-78316-064-8. OCLC
894201495.
Williams, Eric R. (2019). "Episode #3: Comedy and Tragedy: Age Does Not Protect
You." In Falling in Love with Romance Movies. Audible Original.
Williams, Eric R. "Macro Genres and Micro Genres." In The Screenwriters Taxonomy:
A Roadmap to Collaborative Storytelling. New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. p. 47–55.
Williams, Eric R. (2019). "Episode #9: Other Genres: Where There is Love." In
Falling in Love with Romance Movies. Audible Original.
Williams, Eric R. (2018). "Episode #24: Filmmaker's Voice and Audience Choice". In
How to View and Appreciate Great Movies. The Great Courses / Audible.
Williams, Eric R. (2019). "Episode #6: Voices: Though the Stars Walk Backward." In
Falling in Love with Romance Movies. Audible Original.
External links
Top-rated English-language Romance films at IMDb
vte
Film genres
Authority control Edit this at Wikidata
Categories: Romance filmsFilm genresInterpersonal relationships
Navigation menu
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
ArticleTalk
ReadEditView history
Search
Search Wikipedia
Main page
Contents
Current events
Random article
About Wikipedia
Contact us
Donate
Contribute
Help
Learn to edit
Community portal
Recent changes
Upload file
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Cite this page
Wikidata item
Print/export
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons

Languages
‫العربية‬
Español
Français
हिन्दी
Bahasa Indonesia
Bahasa Melayu
Português
‫اردو‬
中文
35 more
Edit links
This page was last edited on 1 February 2022, at 06:28 (UTC).
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersContact WikipediaMobile
viewDevelopersStatisticsCookie statementWikimedia FoundationPowered by MediaWiki