Tag: Romance
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‘Story of a Love Affair,’ directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
Movie, 1950 Moody, gloomy film about the suspicions, investigations and back story of a bored company man’s wife and a used car salesman. As unpromising as this might sound, the film moves along with a hypnotic pace and feel, mixing illustrations, well to do characters with bleak and increasingly seedy locations, and a story which…
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‘Happiness for Beginners,’ directed by Wight
Movie, 2023 Romantic comedy, in which a recently divorced woman is joined, in a rather disparate group of weekend adventurers, by her brother’s best friend. An underwhelming kind of a film with a few moments here and there, but which sets its stall out early and doesn’t deviate too far from it. The action and…
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“The Girl With Green Eyes,” directed by Desmond Davis
Movie, 1964 Edna O’Brien adaptation about a relationship between an awkward shop worker and an older, more wealthy man. For modern tastes, the age gap between Kate and Eugene may be problematic, though it doesn’t feel insurmountable. The film’s a nice mixture of well-observed and lively views of normal life in Dublin, together with some…
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“Gertrude,” by Herman Hesse
Novel, 1910 A book about a young man and his pursuit of music and love. The universal themes, multi-faceted and gloomy characters, and the determination of the first-person narrator counteract the old-fashioned feel of this book. It’s a compelling read, too, really taking the reader in and building attachment to the story’s twists and turns.…
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‘Hampstead,’ directed by Joel Hopkins
Movie, 2017 A film whose premise doesn’t promise much, but which in a charming, uncomplicated way, delivers. Yes, this is a film about class and mannered societal behaviour, whose nuances are hard to find and which could be accused of being a little patronising. The film also has a backs to the wall, stick up…
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“Rebecca,” directed by Ben Wheatley
Movie, 2020 Sumptuous though rather flat adaptation of Du Maurier’s novel, which despite a few fresh touches here and there, never quite comes down as either a full-on romance nor creepy horror. It fails, too, to escape from the shadows of Hitchcock’s classic. Some nice moments, particularly the contrasts between the breezy early scenes on…
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“I Lost My Body”, directed by Jérémy Clapin
Movie, 2019 Animation, telling the story of a boy, Naoufel, who meets a girl. And his hand, which he loses in a work accident. The double narrative follows both the boy, before and after the accident, and the hand’s attempt to reconnect with the body, then look out for Naoufel. This is a film with…
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“Charade,” directed by Stanley Donen
Movie, 1963 Lavish spy caper in part; in another part, the glimpses of a crueller brutality and corrupt world give what looks like an old-fashioned romantic thriller and uncomfortable and, at times, ill-fitting feel. Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn are their usual feel good, charming selves, although they feel a little lost and silly in…
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“Singin’ in the Rain,” directed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen
Movie, 1952 Musical set around a famous Hollywood couple making the transition from silent to sound pictures. A film which has plenty of charm and laughs, which looks stunning in places and is generally a joy to watch. Some of the leaps into singing and dancing are a little contrived – as is too often…