Romance films are love stories that focus on passion

Passion (emotion)

Passion is a term applied to a very strong feeling about a person or thing. Passion is an intense emotion compelling feeling, enthusiasm, or desire for something....

, emotion

Emotion

Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...

, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage

Marriage

Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus. Occasionally, lovers face obstacles such as finance

Finance

"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...

s, physical illness

Illness

Illness is a state of poor health. Illness is sometimes considered another word for disease. Others maintain that fine distinctions exist...

, various forms of discrimination

Discrimination

Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...

, psychological restraints or family that threaten to break their union of love. As in all romantic relationships, tensions of day-to-day life, temptation

Temptation

A temptation is an act that looks appealing to an individual. It is usually used to describe acts with negative connotations and as such, tends to lead a person to regret such actions, for various reasons: legal, social, psychological , health, economic, etc...

s (of infidelity

Infidelity

In many intimate relationships in many cultures there is usually an express or implied expectation of exclusivity, especially in sexual matters. Infidelity most commonly refers to a breach of the expectation of sexual exclusivity.Infidelity can occur in relation to physical intimacy and/or...

), and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films.

Romantic films often explore the essential themes of love at first sight

Love at first sight

Love at first sight is a common trope in Western literature, in which a person, character, or speaker feels romantic attraction for a stranger on the first sight of them...

, young with older love, unrequited love, obsessive love, sentimental love, spiritual love

Spirituality

Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...

, forbidden love, sexual and passionate love, sacrificial love explosive and destructive love, and tragic love

Tragedy

Tragedy is a form of art based on human suffering that offers its audience pleasure. While most cultures have developed forms that provoke this paradoxical response, tragedy refers to a specific tradition of drama that has played a unique and important role historically in the self-definition of...

. 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.

Subgenres

• Romantic drama is the quintessential romantic film. These films will typically place greater emphasis on the sex act and the figures of the lovers than do romantic comedies, and there is less use of the "trusted confidant" device. 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 marriage will occur. An example of the romantic drama film is Bridges of Madison County.
• Chick flick
  Chick flick
  Chick flick is a slang term for a film mainly dealing with love and romance designed to appeal to a female target audience. Although many types of films may be directed toward the female gender, "chick flick" is typically used only in reference to films that are heavy with emotion or contain themes...
  
  is a term often associated with romance films as many are targeted to a female audience. 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 Dirty Dancing
  Dirty Dancing
  Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
  
  , The Notebook
  The Notebook (film)
  The Notebook is a 2004 romance film directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love during the early 1940s...
  
  , Dear John, A Walk to Remember, Romeo + Juliet and Titanic
  Titanic (1997 film)
  Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
  
  .
• Romantic comedies
  Romantic comedy film
  Romantic comedy films are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. One dictionary definition is "a funny movie, play, or television program about a love story that ends happily"...
  
  are films with light-hearted, humorous plotlines, centered on romantic ideals such as that true love is able to surmount most obstacles. Humor in such films tends to be of a verbal, low-key variety or situational, as opposed to slapstick. Films within this genre include, Love Actually
  Love Actually
  Love Actually is a 2003 British romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through ten separate stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are shown to be interlinked as their tales progress...
  
  , Moonstruck
  Moonstruck
  Moonstruck is a 1987 American romantic comedy film directed by Norman Jewison. It stars Cher, Nicolas Cage, Danny Aiello, Vincent Gardenia, and Olympia Dukakis....
  
  , It Happened One Night
  It Happened One Night
  It Happened One Night is a 1934 American romantic comedy film with elements of screwball comedy directed by Frank Capra, in which a pampered socialite tries to get out from under her father's thumb, and falls in love with a roguish reporter . The plot was based on the story Night Bus by Samuel...
  
  , When Harry Met Sally...
  When Harry Met Sally...
  When Harry Met Sally... is a 1989 American romantic comedy film written by Nora Ephron and directed by Rob Reiner. It stars Billy Crystal as Harry and Meg Ryan as Sally. The story follows the title characters from the time they meet just before sharing a cross-country drive, through twelve years or...
  
  , The Family Stone
  The Family Stone
  The Family Stone is a 2005 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Thomas Bezucha. Produced by Michael London and distributed by 20th Century Fox, it stars an ensemble cast, including Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Jessica Parker, Luke Wilson, Claire Danes, Rachel...
  
  , 27 Dresses
  27 Dresses
  27 Dresses is a 2008 romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Aline Brosh McKenna. The film stars Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The film was released January 10, 2008 in Australia and opened in the United States on January 18....
  
  , and The Holiday
  The Holiday
  The Holiday is a 2006 American romantic comedy film written, produced and directed by Nancy Meyers. Distributed by Columbia Pictures and Universal Studios, it stars Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet as two lovelorn women from opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean, who temporarily exchange homes to...
  
  .
• Romantic thriller
  Romantic thriller
  Romantic thriller is a genre of film which has a storyline combining elements of the romance film and the thriller. Some examples of romantic thriller films are:* The Tamarind Seed * Diva * Romancing the Stone...
  
  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, The Adjustment Bureau
  The Adjustment Bureau
  The Adjustment Bureau is a 2011 American fantasy romantic thriller film loosely based on the Philip K. Dick short story, "Adjustment Team". The film was written and directed by George Nolfi and stars Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. The cast also includes Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, Michael Kelly,...
  
  , Mr. & Mrs. Smith
  Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)
  Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 2005 American romantic comedy action film directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The original music score was composed by John Powell...
  
  , The Phantom of the Opera
  The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)
  The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux....
  
  , Super 8
  Super 8 (film)
  Super 8 is a 2011 American science fiction action film written and directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler and was released on June 10, 2011 in conventional and IMAX theaters...
  
  , The Tourist
  The Tourist (2010 film)
  The Tourist is a 2010 romantic thriller film directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, starring Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. It is a remake of the 2005 French action film Anthony Zimmer....
  
  , The Twilight Saga
  The Twilight Saga (film series)
  The Twilight Saga is a series of supernatural romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four Twilight series novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. The films star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The series has grossed over $2 billion in worldwide...
  
  , Unfaithful, and Wicker Park
  Wicker Park (film)
  Wicker Park is a 2004 American psychological drama/romantic mystery film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Josh Hartnett. The film is a remake of the 1996 French movie L'Appartement...
  
   .

Examples

Note: Not all romance films are about heterosexual couples. There is a history of romance films about same sex couples going back to 1919 with Anders als die Andern a.k.a. Different from the Others

• An Affair to Remember
  An Affair to Remember
  An Affair to Remember is a 1957 film starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, and directed by Leo McCarey. It was distributed by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation....
  
  
• Autumn in New York
  Autumn in New York (film)
  Autumn in New York is a 2000 romantic drama film directed by Joan Chen and starring Richard Gere, Winona Ryder, and Anthony LaPaglia.The movie focuses on Will Keane who falls in love with Charlotte Fielding , a sweet, but terminally ill young woman.-Plot:Will Keane, a 48-year old restaurant owner,...
  
  
• A Walk to Remember
• Beautiful Thing
  Beautiful Thing
  Originally Beautiful Thing is a play written by Jonathan Harvey and first performed in 1993. A screen adaptation of the play was released in 1996 by Channel 4 Films, with a revised screenplay also by Harvey. Initially, the film was only intended for television broadcast but it was so well-received...
  
  
• Before Sunrise
  Before Sunrise
  Before Sunrise is a 1995 romantic drama film directed by Richard Linklater and written by Linklater and Kim Krizan. The film follows Jesse , a young American, and Céline , a young French woman, who meet on a train and disembark in Vienna, where they spend the night walking around the city and...
  
   and its sequel, Before Sunset
  Before Sunset
  Before Sunset is a 2004 American romantic drama film and the sequel to Before Sunrise . Like its predecessor, the film was directed by Richard Linklater. However, this time Linklater shares screenplay credit with both actors from the movies, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy...
  
  
• Brief Encounter
  Brief Encounter
  Brief Encounter is a 1945 British film directed by David Lean about the conventions of British suburban life, centring on a housewife for whom real love brings unexpectedly violent emotions. The film stars Celia Johnson, Trevor Howard, Stanley Holloway and Joyce Carey...
  
  
• Camille
  Camille (1936 film)
  Camille is an American romantic drama film directed by George Cukor and produced by Irving Thalberg and Bernard H. Hyman, from a screenplay by James Hilton, Zoe Akins and Frances Marion. The picture is based on the 1852 novel and play La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils...
  
  
• Casablanca
  Casablanca (film)
  Casablanca is a 1942 American romantic drama film directed by Michael Curtiz, starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid, and featuring Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre and Dooley Wilson. Set during World War II, it focuses on a man torn between, in...
  
  
• City of Angels
• Dear John
• Different from the Others
  Different From The Others
  Different From The Others is a German film produced during the Weimar Republic. It was first released in 1919 and stars Conrad Veidt and Reinhold Schünzel.The story for Anders als die Andern was written by Richard Oswald with the assistance of Dr...
  
  
• Dirty Dancing
  Dirty Dancing
  Dirty Dancing is a 1987 American romantic film. Written by Eleanor Bergstein and directed by Emile Ardolino, the film features Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey in the lead roles, as well as Cynthia Rhodes and Jerry Orbach...
  
  
• Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights
  Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights
  # "Dance Like This" - Wyclef Jean featuring Claudette Ortiz # "Dirty Dancing" - The Black Eyed Peas# "Guajira " - Yerba Buena# "Can I Walk By" - Jazze Pha featuring Monica# "Satellite " - Santana featuring Jorge Moreno...
  
  
• Doctor Zhivago
• Dying Young
  Dying Young
  Dying Young is a 1991 American romance film, directed by Joel Schumacher. It is based on a novel of the same name by Marti Leimbach, and stars Julia Roberts and Campbell Scott with Vincent D'Onofrio, Colleen Dewhurst and Ellen Burstyn...
  
  
• Friends with Benefits
  Friends With Benefits (Film)
  Friends with Benefits is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Will Gluck and starring Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake. The film features an ensemble cast which includes Woody Harrelson, Bryan Greenberg, Jenna Elfman, Richard Jenkins, Emma Stone and Patricia Clarkson...
  
  
• Gone with the Wind
  Gone with the Wind (film)
  Gone with the Wind is a 1939 American historical epic film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard...
  
  
• Griffin and Phoenix
  Griffin and Phoenix
  Griffin & Phoenix is a 2006 romance film produced by Gold Circle Films, starring Dermot Mulroney and Amanda Peet. It was a remake of the 1976 television film Griffin and Phoenix: A Love Story, starring Peter Falk and Jill Clayburgh...
  
  
• If Only
• Last Chance Harvey
  Last Chance Harvey
  Last Chance Harvey is a 2008 American romantic drama film written and directed by Joel Hopkins. The screenplay focuses on two lonely people who tentatively forge a relationship over the course of three days...
  
  
• Letters to Juliet
  Letters to Juliet
  Letters to Juliet is a 2010 American romantic comedy drama film starring Amanda Seyfried, Chris Egan, Vanessa Redgrave, Gael García Bernal, and Franco Nero. This was the final film of director Gary Winick before he died of brain cancer. The film was released theatrically in North America and other...
  
  
• Life As We Know It
  Life as We Know It (film)
  Life as We Know It is a 2010 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Greg Berlanti, starring Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel. It was released on October 8, 2010, after sneak previews in 811 theaters on October 2, 2010...
  
  
• Love Story
  Love Story (1970 film)
  Love Story is a 1970 romantic drama film written by Erich Segal and based on his novel Love Story. It was directed by Arthur Hiller. The film, well known as a tragedy, is considered one of the most romantic of all time by the American Film Institute , and was followed by a sequel, Oliver's Story...
  
  
• Kate and Leopold
• Love and Other Drugs
  Love and Other Drugs
  Love and Other Drugs is a 2010 romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Edward Zwick and based on the non-fiction book Hard Sell: The Evolution of a Viagra Salesman by Jamie Reidy...
  
  
• Message in a Bottle
  Message in a Bottle (film)
  Message in a Bottle is a 1999 American romantic drama film directed by Luis Mandoki. Based on a novel with the same name by Nicholas Sparks, the film stars Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn, and Paul Newman...
  
  
• Meet Joe Black
  Meet Joe Black
  Meet Joe Black is a 1998 American fantasy romance film produced by Universal Studios, directed by Martin Brest and starring Brad Pitt, Anthony Hopkins and Claire Forlani, loosely based on the 1934 film Death Takes a Holiday...
  
  
• Mr. & Mrs. Smith
  Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005 film)
  Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a 2005 American romantic comedy action film directed by Doug Liman and written by Simon Kinberg. The original music score was composed by John Powell...
  
  
• No Strings Attached
• One Day
  One Day (film)
  One Day is a film directed by Lone Scherfig. It was adapted by David Nicholls from his 2009 novel of the same name. It stars Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess...
  
  
• Pearl Harbor
  Pearl Harbor (film)
  Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...
  
  
• Pride and Prejudice
• P.S. I Love You
  P.S. I Love You (film)
  P.S. I Love You is a 2007 American drama film directed by Richard LaGravenese. The screenplay by LaGravenese and Steven Rogers is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Cecelia Ahern. The film is dedicated to the memory of producer Molly Smith's sister Windland Smith Rice.-Plot:Holly and Gerry...
  
  
• The Reader
• Remember Me
  Remember Me (2010 film)
  Remember Me is a 2010 American romantic coming of age drama film directed by Allen Coulter, and screenplay by Will Fetters. It stars Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin, Chris Cooper, Lena Olin, and Pierce Brosnan.-Plot:...
  
  
• Romeo + Juliet
• Shakespeare in Love
  Shakespeare in Love
  Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard....
  
  
• Shelter
  Shelter (2007 film)
  Shelter is a 2007 American film directed and written by Jonah Markowitz. It stars Trevor Wright, Brad Rowe, and Tina Holmes. It was the winner of "Outstanding Film – Limited Release" at the 2009 GLAAD Media Awards, Best New Director and Favorite Narrative Feature at the Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film...
  
  
• Something Borrowed
  Something Borrowed (film)
  Something Borrowed is a 2011 American romantic comedy film based on Emily Giffin's book of the same name, directed by Luke Greenfield, starring Ginnifer Goodwin, Kate Hudson, Colin Egglesfield, and John Krasinski....
  
  
• Somewhere in Time
  Somewhere in Time (film)
  Somewhere in Time is a 1980 romantic science fiction film directed by Jeannot Szwarc. It is a film adaptation of the 1975 novel Bid Time Return by Richard Matheson, who also wrote the screenplay...
  
  
• Sophie's Choice
  Sophie's Choice (film)
  Sophie's Choice is a 1982 American romantic drama film that tells the story of a Polish immigrant, Sophie, and her tempestuous lover who share a boarding house with a young writer in Brooklyn. The film stars Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Peter MacNicol. Alan J...
  
  
• Splash
  Splash (film)
  Splash is a 1984 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Ron Howard and written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. The original music score was composed by Lee Holdridge...
  
  
• Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans
• The Bridges of Madison County
  The Bridges of Madison County (film)
  The Bridges of Madison County is a 1995 American romantic drama film based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Robert James Waller. It was produced by Amblin Entertainment and Malpaso Productions, and distributed by Warner Bros. Entertainment...
  
  
• The Illusionist
• The Jane Austen Book Club
  The Jane Austen Book Club (film)
  The Jane Austen Book Club is a 2007 American romantic drama film written and directed by Robin Swicord. The screenplay, adapted from the 2004 novel of the same name by Karen Joy Fowler, focuses on a book club formed specifically to discuss the six novels written by Jane Austen...
  
  
• The Lake House
  The Lake House (film)
  The Lake House: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack was released in 2006.# "This Never Happened Before" - Paul McCartney# " Make You Mine" - The Clientele# "Time Has Told Me" - Nick Drake# "Ant Farm" - Eels...
  
  
• The Notebook
  The Notebook (film)
  The Notebook is a 2004 romance film directed by Nick Cassavetes, based on the novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The film stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple who fall in love during the early 1940s...
  
  
• The Phantom of the Opera
  The Phantom of the Opera (2004 film)
  The Phantom of the Opera is a 2004 film adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical of the same name, which in turn was based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux....
  
  
• The Princess Diaries
  The Princess Diaries (film)
  The Princess Diaries is a 2001 comedy film produced by singer and actress Whitney Houston and directed by Garry Marshall. It is based on Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name...
  
  
• The Last Song
  The Last Song (film)
  The Last Song is a 2010 American coming of age drama film developed alongside Nicholas Sparks novel by the same name. The film was directed by Julie Anne Robinson in her feature film directorial debut and co-written by Sparks and Jeff Van Wie...
  
  
• Titanic
  Titanic (1997 film)
  Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
  
  
• Tristan & Isolde
  Tristan & Isolde (film)
  Tristan & Isolde is a 2006 romantic drama film based on the medieval romantic legend of Tristan and Isolde. It was produced by Ridley Scott and Tony Scott, directed by Kevin Reynolds and stars James Franco and Sophia Myles, with an original music score composed by Anne Dudley...
  
  
• Wimbledon
  Wimbledon (film)
  Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after...
  
  
• Working Girl
  Working Girl
  Working Girl is a 1988 romantic comedy film written by Kevin Wade and directed by Mike Nichols. It tells the inspiring story of a Staten Island-raised secretary, Tess McGill , working in the mergers and acquisitions department of a Wall Street investment bank...
  
  
• Kadhalukku mariyadhai
  Kadhalukku Mariyadhai
  Kadhalukku Mariyadhai is a 1997 Tamil romance film directed by Fazil. It stars Vijay, Shalini, Charlie, Dhamu, Sivakumar and Manivannan. It became the best films of 1997 and raised business for both the lead actors....
  
  

External links

• IMDb guide to Romance movies