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Step back in time and immerse yourself in some of the most captivating love stories ever told on screen. From epic romances set against sweeping historical backdrops to intimate tales of forbidden passion, these films bring classic literature and timeless relationships to life. Experience the charm, heartbreak, and beauty of period romance through unforgettable performances and breathtaking cinematography.
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00:00Can a play show us the very truth and nature of love?
00:03Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:05And today, we're counting down our picks for movies set in the past with the most beloved love stories.
00:10I saw that in the Nickelodeon once and I always wanted to do it.
00:16Number 30, My Fair Lady.
00:19George Bernard Shaw's Edwardian play Pygmalion got a musical makeover in 1956.
00:24Warner Brothers then further polished Professor Henry Higgins' experiment with social outcast Eliza Doolittle
00:30into a sophisticated comic epic.
00:33Yeah, what are you sniggering at?
00:36It's the new small talk. You do it so awfully well.
00:40Well, if I was doing it proper, what was you sniggering at?
00:44Have I said anything I oughtn't?
00:47Oh, no.
00:47My Fair Lady's image of London High Society is a Hollywood musical production at its most refined.
00:54So, too, is the process of both leads coming to appreciate Eliza's true value beyond illusions of class,
01:01elevated by the lead actors' chemistry.
01:03Eliza, you're magnificent.
01:05Five minutes ago, you were a millstone round my neck, and now you're a tower of strength,
01:10a consort battleship.
01:13I like you this way.
01:15Rex Harrison may have rightly scored one of the film's eight Oscar wins,
01:18but Audrey Hepburn's luminous charm and style are forever imprinted in pop culture.
01:23By George, however you say lovely is the only way to describe My Fair Lady.
01:28Lovely.
01:31Lovely.
01:33Lovely.
01:35Number 29.
01:36Emma.
01:37Of all the heroines Jane Austen gave us,
01:39Emma Woodhouse needed the most convincing that she deserved love, too.
01:43And of all the movies about the matchmaker's misadventures,
01:46Autumn DeWilds may be the truest in spirit.
01:49I'm not prejudiced.
01:50Yes, but I am.
01:52Very much, without at all being ashamed of it.
01:54It's a feast of pastel palettes and snappy comedic dialogue.
01:58This lives up to the whimsy of Austen's Regency-era world,
02:01with a touch of modern wit for fans of 1995's Clueless.
02:05She demands either one thing very clever, or two things moderately clever,
02:09or three things very dull indeed.
02:13And she engages sloughheartedly at the mall.
02:16The smooth yet vulnerable Anya Taylor-Joy is certainly well-matched with Johnny Flynn as Mr. Knightley.
02:21But love is in the air throughout the ensemble-driven Emma,
02:24for all the joys and mischief that the 2020 adaptation handles with keen perceptiveness.
02:29A bride must be first, in company.
02:33It is almost enough to make me think of marrying.
02:35Number 28.
02:36Ever After.
02:37A good costumed love story can feel like a fairy tale without the need of a fairy godmother.
02:42So Ever After ditches Charles Perrault's fantasy element
02:45to tell a Cinderella story within a more grounded French Renaissance history.
02:49Are you coy on purpose, or do you honestly refuse to tell me your name?
02:53No.
02:54And yes.
02:56Well then pray, tell me your cousin's name so that I might call upon her to learn who you are.
03:02For anyone who can quote Thomas More is well worth the effort.
03:05The stunning production sells this novelty,
03:08while Drew Barrymore sells a servant with the warmth and heart to win over a prince.
03:13She sure won over moviegoers as Hollywood romance royalty.
03:16A bird may love a fish, signore.
03:19But where would they live?
03:21Then I shall have to make you wings.
03:23Besides reinventing the leading lady,
03:26Ever After reinvents her archetypal role to be elevated by wit and courage,
03:30not glass slippers.
03:32The well-earned romance just rounds out Danielle de Barbarac's story as a legend on its own terms.
03:37You, sir, are supposed to be charming.
03:40And we, princess, are supposed to live happily ever after.
03:44Says who?
03:48Do you know?
03:50I don't know.
03:56Number 27.
03:58Jane Eyre.
03:59Tragic and hopeful at the same time,
04:01Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is one of the quintessential works of English literature.
04:05You're blushing this hair.
04:09And though you're not pretty any more than I am handsome,
04:12I must say it becomes you.
04:14There have been many film adaptations,
04:15but the 2011 version has got to be our favorite.
04:19It stars Mia Vashikowska,
04:21who absolutely embodies the strength and struggle of the titular heroine.
04:25Do you think that because I am poor, obscure, plain and little,
04:29that I am soulless and heartless?
04:32I have as much soul as you and full as much heart.
04:35And if God had blessed me with beauty and wealth,
04:37I could make it as hard for you to leave me as it is for I to leave you.
04:40Her love interest, Mr. Rochester, is played by Michael Fassbender.
04:44The film delves into the novel's depths,
04:46particularly when it comes to the main romantic relationship.
04:49The chemistry between Vashikowska and Fassbender
04:52is tinged with equal parts vigor and restraint.
04:55Their yearning almost tangible.
04:57Their expression did not strike my very inmost being so for nothing.
05:04People talk of natural sympathies.
05:08Yeah.
05:09Number 26, Cold War.
05:11Oftentimes, a sprawling love story runs even hotter in a frigid world.
05:16That's just where a musical director and a singer find themselves
05:19after fleeing from post-World War II Poland
05:21into Europe's turbulent reconstruction.
05:24Are you interested in it that I have a talent, or in general?
05:32Try it.
05:32Shot in stunning black and white,
05:35Pawel Pawlikowski's Cold War unfolds in vignettes across four countries in two decades.
05:41A concise runtime neatly frames a metaphor for the modern world
05:45through two people who can neither live together nor apart.
05:48By drawing from his own parents' relationship, however,
05:51Pawlikowski is able to thoughtfully chronicle the character's passion
05:55with the support of capable actors.
05:57Cold War is truly epic in its presentation,
06:00but knows how to hit all the right notes to break your heart.
06:03I'm two.
06:12Do you long for more stories of passion in pop culture?
06:16Scan the QR code and give some love to the 24-7 Ms. Mojo livestream.
06:20Now then, what is that phrase you use?
06:25Oh yes, once upon a time.
06:28Number 25.
06:30The Remains of the Day.
06:31Novelist Kazuo Ishiguro knows a little something about romance,
06:35and The Remains of the Day might be one of his most romantic works ever.
06:39It's not scandalous at all.
06:41It's just a sentimental old life story.
06:50Yes.
06:51The 1993 film version of the book is directed by James Ivory,
06:55who also knows a little something about romance.
06:57The result is magical.
06:59Yes, always was work, work, more work.
07:04And will continue to be so, I have no doubt.
07:07The movie focuses on James Stevens,
07:09the butler of a fine house in post-World War II Britain,
07:12and his relationship with the estate's former housekeeper, Miss Kenton.
07:16The story follows their meeting and subsequent friendship,
07:19largely through the lens of flashbacks.
07:21The two fall in love subtly,
07:23almost so subtly you don't even notice until it's too obvious to miss.
07:27Well, I wish you'd told me so at the time.
07:29It would have helped me a great deal if I'd known you felt the same way as I did.
07:31Why?
07:33Why, Mr. Stevens?
07:34Why do you always have to hide what you feel?
07:36Number 24, Moulin Rouge.
07:39We dare you not to fall in love with Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman in this movie.
07:43If you ask us, it's almost impossible.
07:45How wonderful life is
07:51Now you're in the world
07:58The story takes place in Paris at the top of the early 20th century,
08:03but with the aesthetic upped to the nth degree.
08:05It is a Baz Luhrmann flick.
08:07What do you expect?
08:08McGregor plays Christian,
08:09an idealistic writer who develops feelings for Kidman Satine,
08:13a performer and courtesan.
08:14Never knew
08:18I could feel like this
08:25Like I've never seen the sky
08:28The stars are set against this couple from the jump,
08:31but the forbidden quality to their romance makes it all the better.
08:35When you add songs into the mix,
08:37it's hard not to fall for the film right alongside Christian and Satine.
08:40Come on, Moulin Rouge.
08:54Number 23, The Age of Innocence.
08:57He gave himself a single chance.
09:00She must turn before the sailboat crosses the Lime Rock light.
09:05Then he would go to her.
09:06When you think of Martin Scorsese,
09:09you probably think of gangster movies,
09:10but the man's got a lot more range than that.
09:14He also made one of the most romantic movies of all time with The Age of Innocence.
09:18It takes place in the mid to late 1800s in New York
09:21and focuses on a love triangle of sorts between an attorney,
09:24his socialite fiancee,
09:26and her cousin.
09:27This other woman,
09:29does she love you too?
09:30There is no other woman.
09:31The person that May was thinking of was never.
09:36Scorsese does a wonderful job at visualizing the yearning
09:39and different dynamics between members of the triangle.
09:42And with a cast that includes Daniel Day-Lewis,
09:44Michelle Pfeiffer,
09:45and Winona Ryder,
09:46you're in for some stellar performances.
09:49Are you very much in love with her?
09:51As much as a man can be.
09:53Do you think there's a limit?
09:55Number 22, Persuasion.
09:57When it's a Jane Austen adaptation,
09:59you know it's about to be good.
10:01And Persuasion is no different.
10:03We're not talking about the 2022 Netflix version,
10:07but the 1995 BBC film with Amanda Root and Kieran Hines.
10:11When a man has no wife,
10:12he wants to be afloat again.
10:14Yes, well, I had no wife.
10:16In the Essex.
10:20Persuasion introduces us to Anne Elliot
10:22eight years after she turned down the proposal of Frederick Wentworth.
10:26When Wentworth returns,
10:27she begins to wonder if she made the right decision or not.
10:30Anybody between 15 and 30 may have him for the asking.
10:35A little beauty,
10:36a few smiles,
10:38a few compliments of the Navy,
10:40and he's a lost man.
10:41What follows is a slew of long,
10:43lingering looks across crowded rooms
10:45and unparalleled yearning.
10:47All good Austen texts capture a romantic melancholy,
10:51and this version of Persuasion represents the peak of that power.
10:54I should like to see it again.
10:57Would you?
10:57I would have thought,
10:58I mean,
10:59the distress,
11:00too painful.
11:02But when the pain is over...
11:06Number 21,
11:07Wuthering Heights.
11:08Cassie!
11:10Cassie!
11:11Come in!
11:12Cassie, come back to me!
11:14Emily Bronte's bold romantic masterpiece
11:16has captivated in many formats since 1847.
11:19From Andrea Arnold's tortured meditation in 2011
11:22to Emerald Fennell's passionate epic in 2026,
11:26Wuthering Heights is particularly versatile in film.
11:29And yet,
11:30nothing quite matches the impact of William Wyler's 1939 version.
11:34How can you stand here beside me and pretend not to remember?
11:40Not to know that my heart is breaking for you.
11:44But your face is the wonderful light burning in all this darkness.
11:47Only half of the book is adapted to isolate the lover's coming of age
11:51in all of its hope and doom.
11:53Greg Toland's Oscar-winning black-and-white cinematography
11:56washes the Yorkshire Moors in a gothic atmosphere.
11:59And the chemistry between Laurence Olivier's brooding Heathcliff
12:03and Merle Oberon's passionate Cathy grounds these wild contrasts.
12:07Wyler's Wuthering Heights was unlike any romantic period piece of its time,
12:11and few have reached its stature ever since.
12:14No matter what I ever do or say, Heathcliff,
12:16this is me now.
12:19Standing on this hill with you,
12:21this is me forever.
12:22Number 20, Carol.
12:24Perhaps you might like to come with me.
12:32Would you?
12:36Yes.
12:38Yes, I would.
12:39Todd Haynes first sent us on a powerful journey of taboo romance
12:43in the 1950s with Far From Heaven.
12:45So he'd be the one to deliver the Patricia Highsmith novel
12:48The Price of Salt on its 63-year journey from that decade to the screen.
12:53Carol pairs Cate Blanchett with Rooney Mara
12:55in the story of a housewife who finds an exciting new friendship,
12:58then something more.
13:00Needless to say,
13:01the acting and chemistry between these actresses are incredible.
13:05Oh, that's divine.
13:08Smell that.
13:15To President McKinley.
13:19Entire chapters are communicated through passing glances
13:23under Haynes' poetically detailed direction.
13:25It's serenely beautiful,
13:27but never overly sentimental.
13:29Carol instead does Highsmith long overdue justice
13:32by both mourning the past
13:34and sculpting a timeless emotional arc.
13:36I always spend New Year's alone
13:39in crowds.
13:42I'm not alone this year.
13:47Few films have captured the exquisite agony
13:49of unexpressed love quite like this.
13:52Set in 1960s British Hong Kong,
13:54Wong Ka-wei's In the Mood for Love
13:56follows two neighbors who bond over revelations
13:59that their spouses are having an affair.
14:23The drama is complicated,
14:25but the execution is an elegant expression
14:28through some of the most sumptuous visuals
14:29in modern cinema.
14:31The chemistry between Maggie Chung and Tony Leung
14:33is no less unspoken in its restraint.
14:36One understands that desire
14:37is most potent with longing,
14:39and how a visual medium
14:41can convey intimacy with proximity.
14:43Like a life-altering emotional affair,
14:46In the Mood for Love has left its mark
14:48on creative romantic storytelling.
14:50Don't cry.
14:56It's not true.
15:14World War II espionage walks into a gin joint
15:17in the form of long-lost love in Casablanca.
15:20Let's see, the last time we met...
15:22Was La Bella Roar.
15:25How nice, you remembered.
15:27But of course, that was the day
15:28the Germans marched into Paris.
15:30Not an easy day to forget.
15:32No.
15:32I remember every detail.
15:34The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.
15:36As American expat,
15:38Rick Blaine is torn between Ilsa Lund
15:40and helping her husband escape the Nazis.
15:42The sense of heartbreak sets this apart
15:44from most old Hollywood capers.
15:46That, and some of the most iconic dialogue
15:48in film history.
15:49What's that you're playing?
15:51Oh, just a little something on my own.
15:52Oh, stop it.
15:53You know what I want to hear.
15:54No, I don't.
15:55You played it for her,
15:56you played it for me.
15:58Well, I don't think I can remember.
15:59If you can stand it, I can.
16:01Play it.
16:02The moments between the gripping
16:03political confrontations
16:05really stand out for the incomparable chemistry
16:07between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman.
16:10Sure, there is clear propaganda
16:11to this Best Picture winner's theme
16:13of wartime sacrifice before selfish passion.
16:16As time goes by, however,
16:18Casablanca continues to transcend
16:20cultural touchstones
16:21and devastating romance
16:22as peak cinematic entertainment.
16:24We'll always have Paris.
16:26We didn't have, we lost it
16:28until you came to Casablanca.
16:29We got it back last night.
16:32When I said I would never leave you.
16:35And you never will.
16:36Number 17, Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
16:39Celine Sciamma's female gaze masterpiece
16:42looks back at 18th century Brittany,
16:44where a young noblewoman stands
16:46for a portrait commissioned by her fiancé.
16:48She ends up finding passion and liberty
16:50with the painter herself.
16:57Portrait of a Lady on Fire builds from this simple premise
17:01more than a romance that's boldly treated
17:03without stigma or qualification.
17:05That much is universal,
17:07but the themes of desire, freedom,
17:09and being seen are uncompromisingly feminist.
17:12It's a picturesque slow burner
17:13that explodes with a devastating ending.
17:16But just about every scene
17:17in Portrait of a Lady on Fire
17:19is rendered to get the audience talking.
17:21It'll take more than a thousand words
17:23to examine this deeply intimate picture.
17:25Book, yes?
17:28For more?
17:29Number 16, Howard's End.
17:31I would like to talk to you about them.
17:33Well, why not now?
17:34No, time like the present.
17:36Shall I?
17:37Mm.
17:38Yes, if it isn't too long a story.
17:40Often considered one of the best movies
17:42to come from the partnership
17:43between James Ivory and Ismail Merchant,
17:46Howard's End has everything you want
17:48from a British period romance.
17:50There's class conflict, forbidden love,
17:52and gorgeous production design.
17:55The film's primary love affair
17:56is between Emma Thompson's Margaret Schlegel
17:59and Anthony Hopkins' Henry Wilcox.
18:01Do you think you could be induced to share?
18:06I mean, is it at all probable that...
18:08Oh, yes, I see.
18:09The chemistry between the two
18:10isn't all swoons and heart flutters,
18:12but rather built on a mutual respect
18:15that flourishes over the course of the story.
18:17But don't worry,
18:18there's still plenty of swooning to be found
18:20and romance abounding throughout.
18:23I didn't think people like you existed
18:24except in books.
18:26And books aren't real.
18:27Oh, no, they're more real than anything.
18:29When people fail you,
18:30there's still music and meaning.
18:32Number 15.
18:34The Piano.
18:35On its face,
18:36the piano might not seem to scream romance.
18:38Jane Campion's film stars Holly Hunter as Ada,
18:41a woman who does not speak.
18:43She's forced to leave her native Scotland
18:45for New Zealand
18:46to marry Sam Neill's Alistair Stewart.
18:48Can you hear me?
18:55Oh, that's good.
18:57Yes, that's good.
18:58The new land is grueling
18:59and unwelcoming to the outsiders.
19:01And things don't start off sunny,
19:03to say the least.
19:04But throughout the film,
19:06Hunter's character develops
19:07a scorching hot relationship
19:09with George Baines,
19:10played by Harvey Keitel.
19:23Don't get us wrong.
19:25Things are still rather bleak for our heroine
19:27for much of the story,
19:29even with romance in the picture.
19:31But Hunter and Keitel's raw sexual chemistry
19:33leaves us reeling every time.
19:35Because my mind has seized on you
19:37and can't think of nothing else.
19:41This is how I suffer.
19:46I am sick with longing.
19:49Number 14,
19:50The Young Victoria.
19:52Throughout history,
19:53royals haven't always been known
19:54to marry for love.
19:56In that regard,
19:57Queen Victoria was one of the lucky ones.
19:59Because it would make me happier than anything.
20:03Too happy, really,
20:05if you would agree to what I wish.
20:07And stay with you.
20:09And stay with me.
20:11And marry you.
20:13And marry me.
20:14The Young Victoria chronicles
20:15the courtship and union
20:17between the long-reigning queen
20:18and her eventual husband,
20:20Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg in Gotha.
20:22We get a full view of her
20:24and Albert's love affair,
20:25starting from its earlier days
20:27before she was crowned.
20:28Master the rules of the game
20:29until you play it better than they can.
20:35You don't recommend I find a husband
20:37to play it for me?
20:40I should find one to play it with you,
20:42not for you.
20:43Actors Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend
20:45have an excellent rapport.
20:46And the production design
20:48makes you feel as though
20:49you've actually entered Victorian England.
20:51It's a gorgeous film to behold.
20:53And one that honors the romance
20:55between the couple.
20:56You're the only wife I've got
20:57until I ever will have.
21:00You are my whole existence.
21:02And I will love you
21:04until my last breath.
21:05Number 13.
21:06Brooklyn.
21:07If given the choice between home
21:09and a new world,
21:10which would you choose?
21:11That's one of the questions
21:12put forth in Brooklyn.
21:14John Crowley's 1950s period film
21:16starring Saoirse Ronan.
21:17You're in a good mood, huh?
21:20Yes.
21:21Why?
21:22It's just...
21:24I like how you're being.
21:26She plays Eilish,
21:27an Irish woman who moves to Brooklyn
21:29and quickly falls in love
21:30with a young man.
21:31But things take a turn
21:32when she must suddenly
21:33return to Ireland.
21:35There, another man piques her interest,
21:37and she must decide
21:38which life she wants to live.
21:40You must seem very backward
21:41to you now.
21:42Of course not.
21:44You seem calm
21:45and civilized and charming.
21:47Both love interests
21:48have great chemistry
21:49with the protagonist,
21:50and the difficulty
21:51of the choice she has
21:52tugs at your heartstrings.
21:54Meanwhile, the costumes
21:56and designs are lush and rich,
21:58with one of Ronan's
21:59best performances at the helm.
22:00And one day,
22:02the sun will come out.
22:04You might not even notice
22:05straight away.
22:06It'll be that faint.
22:08And then you'll catch yourself
22:09thinking about something
22:11or someone who has
22:13no connection with the past.
22:14Number 12.
22:16Brokeback Mountain.
22:17Ang Lee's 2005 film
22:19is a masterpiece,
22:20which many believed
22:21was robbed of Best Picture
22:23at the Oscars.
22:23But we won't get into that now.
22:25This is a one-shot thing
22:26we got going on here.
22:33There's nobody's business
22:35but ours.
22:35This heartbreaking love story
22:37takes place in the American West
22:39over two decades,
22:40spanning from the 1960s
22:41into the 1980s.
22:43It captures every time period
22:45with care,
22:46the same sort of care
22:47it lends to the relationship
22:48at its center.
22:49I gotta go.
22:53See you more.
22:54The romance between Jack and Ennis
22:56is one that is fraught
22:57with emotion,
22:58but the film never loses sight
23:00of the connection
23:01that started everything.
23:02Jake Gyllenhaal
23:03and Heath Ledger
23:04are both superb,
23:05helping to create
23:06one of the best romances
23:07of the 2000s.
23:09Sometimes I miss you so much
23:10I can hardly stand it.
23:18I want the excitement
23:20of watching her betray
23:21everything that's
23:22most important to her.
23:24Surely you understand that.
23:26I thought betrayal
23:27was your favorite word.
23:28No, no.
23:31Cruelty.
23:33I always think
23:34that has a nobler ring to it.
23:36Adapted from an 18th century
23:38French novel,
23:38Dangerous Liaisons
23:40features a cast
23:40of 90s all-stars
23:42in Glenn Close,
23:43John Malkovich,
23:44Michelle Pfeiffer,
23:45Keanu Reeves,
23:46and Uma Thurman.
23:47The period drama
23:49delves into the romantic
23:50entanglements
23:51and political upheaval
23:52of pre-revolution France,
23:54and it includes
23:55enough plotting,
23:56intimacy,
23:57and revenge
23:57to satisfy
23:58the cinematic appetites
23:59of all moviegoers.
24:00No.
24:04Goodbye.
24:05No.
24:06You must let me.
24:07I'll take you off.
24:08No.
24:08With a wicked narrative,
24:10robust characters,
24:11and three Academy Award wins,
24:13it's as entertaining
24:15as it is steamy.
24:16I have reason to believe
24:19that a...
24:20Oh,
24:21how shall I describe it?
24:23That a dangerous liaison
24:25has sprung up
24:27between your daughter
24:28and the Chevalier d'Ansoni.
24:30No.
24:3110.
24:31Atonement.
24:32What do you think
24:32it would feel like
24:33to be someone else?
24:34Cooler, I should hope.
24:35An inter-class romance
24:37had only just begun
24:38when a jealous sister's deception
24:40has repercussions
24:41all the way
24:41to the battlefields
24:42of World War II.
24:43Look at me.
24:47Look at me.
24:51Come back.
24:55Come back to me.
24:57The Ian McEwan novel
24:58Atonement is an intricate epic
25:00that flows seamlessly
25:01under Joe Wright's
25:02stylish yet tender direction.
25:04James McAvoy and Keira Knightley
25:06naturally form a strong romantic base,
25:08but young breakout star
25:09Saoirse Ronan challenges
25:11these veterans
25:11with her Oscar-nominated performance.
25:13It's about a young girl,
25:15a young and foolish girl
25:17who sees something
25:18from her bedroom window
25:19which she doesn't understand,
25:21but she thinks she does.
25:22Romola Gary and Vanessa Redgrave
25:24follow her in the role
25:25of our remorseful narrator
25:27as we plead for a happy ending
25:29in dark times.
25:30It doesn't look hopeful,
25:32but Atonement leaves you
25:33emotionally haunted
25:34just the same.
25:35Number 9.
25:36Gone with the Wind
25:37The ambition of Gone with the Wind's
25:39production was matched
25:40only by its larger-than-life narrative.
25:43It tells the tale
25:44of Scarlett O'Hara,
25:45a Civil War-era plantation owner
25:47who pines for love
25:48while being beset
25:49on all sides by tragedy.
25:50No, I don't think I will kiss you.
25:52Although you need kissing badly.
25:54That's what's wrong with you.
25:55You should be kissed and often
25:57and by someone who knows how.
25:58It features iconic performances
26:00from lead actors
26:01Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable,
26:03whose on-screen chemistry
26:04led to both
26:05receiving Oscar nominations.
26:07Leigh went on to win.
26:08You're jealous of something
26:09you can't understand.
26:12Good night.
26:12Thus, the film has transcended
26:14the medium to become
26:15one of history's most enduring
26:16tales of romance found
26:18and nominated for
26:20a then-record 13 Academy Awards,
26:22of which it won eight.
26:24Gone with the Wind
26:25has been a fixture
26:25of greatest films
26:26of all time lists for decades.
26:28It remains one of the most popular
26:30romantic period films ever made.
26:33Number 8.
26:34Far from the Madding Crowd
26:35What angers you exactly?
26:38What I said
26:39or the way I said it?
26:40Adapted from Thomas Hardy's
26:421874 novel of the same name,
26:44Far from the Madding Crowd
26:45is a costume drama
26:47of the Highest Order.
26:48Featuring the talents
26:49of Carrie Mulligan,
26:50Mattia Sonartz,
26:51and Michael Sheen,
26:52it explores the highs and lows
26:54of searching for love
26:55and financial security
26:57in Victorian England.
26:58I have a piano.
27:01And I have my own phone.
27:05And I have no need for a husband.
27:07At the center of it all
27:08is Bathsheba Everdeen,
27:09who finds herself falling
27:11for three very different men.
27:13Director Thomas Vinterberg
27:14has crafted a world
27:15of intense passions
27:17and swoon-worthy characters
27:18one would expect
27:19from a period piece
27:20of this nature.
27:21However, the film
27:22still manages to surprise
27:23thanks to the addition
27:24of a number of steamy scenes
27:26not found in the original
27:27source material.
27:28I gave you my word.
27:32Now I will take this.
27:37Number 7.
27:38Shakespeare in Love
27:39Shakespeare in Love
27:40broke the mold
27:41at the 71st Academy Awards
27:43when it took home
27:44seven Oscars,
27:45including Best Picture
27:46and Best Original Screenplay.
27:48Tell me how you love her, Will.
27:50Like a sickness
27:51and its cure together.
27:55Yes.
27:57Like rain and sun.
27:59Like cold and heat.
28:01You see, period rom-coms
28:03don't typically receive
28:04recognition from the Academy.
28:06It's even harder
28:07when they're facing
28:08stiff competition
28:08like Saving Private Ryan,
28:10Life is Beautiful,
28:11and the more straightforward
28:13historical drama Elizabeth.
28:15Shakespeare in Love
28:16topped them all.
28:17And in doing so,
28:18it became one of the most
28:19instantly recognizable
28:20romantic period films
28:22of all time.
28:23Shall I compare thee
28:24to a summer's day?
28:26Thou art more lovely
28:28and more temperate.
28:29The chemistry between
28:30Gwyneth Paltrow
28:31and Joseph Fiennes
28:32keeps the movie,
28:33which takes clever liberties
28:34with literary or historical accuracy,
28:36to explore the essence
28:38of the Bard's poignant prose.
28:40I would not have thought it.
28:43There is something better
28:44than a play.
28:45Number six,
28:46A Room with a View.
28:48E.M. Forster broke down
28:49the misery of emotional repression
28:51that Edwardian England
28:52considered an elevated virtue.
28:54And the Merchant Ivory adaptation
28:56of A Room with a View
28:57let it all pour out.
28:58How quickly these accidents
29:00do happen.
29:01And then one returns
29:02to the old life.
29:03I don't.
29:05I mean,
29:07something's happened to me.
29:10And to you.
29:11Helena Bonham Carter
29:12brings intelligence
29:13to Lucy Honeychurch's
29:14internal conflict
29:15when her Italian trip
29:17is detoured
29:18by the unconventional
29:19George Emerson,
29:20played by Julian Sands.
29:21They make heading a cast
29:23with Daniel Day-Lewis,
29:24Judi Dench,
29:25and Maggie Smith
29:26look easy.
29:27The Oscar-winning
29:28art direction and script
29:29further unify beauty
29:30and feeling
29:31in defiance of posh formality.
29:33It even gets wickedly funny
29:35in its skewering
29:36of high society.
29:37All the same,
29:38A Room with a View
29:39is high art
29:40with the biggest heart.
29:41Don't you agree
29:42that on one's first visit
29:43to Florence
29:44one must have
29:44a room with a view?
29:46We have a view.
29:51Number five,
29:52Sense and Sensibility.
29:54Pathetic.
29:54To die for love?
29:56How can you say so?
29:58What could be more glorious?
29:59I think that may be
30:00taking your romantic
30:01sensibilities a little far.
30:02Emma Thompson
30:03was nominated
30:03for an acting Oscar
30:05and won Best Adapted Screenplay
30:07in her interpretation
30:08of Jane Austen's
30:09first masterpiece.
30:10In true Austenian fashion,
30:12passion runs hot
30:13throughout Ang Lee's
30:14Sense and Sensibility,
30:15as the Dashwood sisters
30:17attempt to secure
30:18a future for themselves
30:19through marriage.
30:20Eleanor,
30:21where is your heart?
30:24What do you know
30:24of my heart?
30:25What do you know
30:26of anything
30:26but your own suffering?
30:28While the film
30:28occasionally veers
30:29towards the comedic,
30:30it's first and foremost
30:32an exploration of class,
30:33gender,
30:34and relationships
30:35in 19th century England.
30:36Love is not love
30:38which alters
30:40when it alteration finds,
30:43or bends
30:45with a remover to remove.
30:47No screen adaptation
30:48of Sense and Sensibility
30:50would again attempt
30:51that complexity
30:51as a feature film
30:52until 2026.
30:54Regardless of the format,
30:56not many period romances
30:57live up to the 1995 classic.
31:00I've come here
31:01with no expectations,
31:03only to profess
31:04now that I am at liberty
31:06to do so,
31:08that my heart is
31:12and always will be
31:16yours.
31:17Number 4.
31:19Dr. Zhivago
31:20It was helmed
31:21by director David Lean,
31:22whose prowess
31:23for delivering
31:24cinematic epics
31:25of magnanimous proportions
31:26is the stuff
31:27of Hollywood legend.
31:28And indeed,
31:29Dr. Zhivago manages
31:31to encapsulate
31:31the drama and romance
31:33of its source material
31:34in the way
31:35only a truly
31:35great film can.
31:37Unhappy with their wives?
31:39Doubting themselves?
31:42Happy men
31:43don't volunteer?
31:44A sweeping
31:45historical romance,
31:46it's set in Russia
31:47and follows
31:48Yuri Zhivago.
31:49The married doctor
31:49must overcome
31:50the hurdles
31:51of World War I,
31:52the Russian Revolution,
31:53and the subsequent
31:54Russian Civil War.
31:56Through it all,
31:57he dreams of being
31:58with his beloved
31:58mistress Lara.
31:59You know,
32:00you often look at me
32:00as though you knew me.
32:02I have seen you.
32:04Four years ago,
32:05Christmas Eve.
32:06Dr. Zhivago
32:07was one of the
32:07defining films
32:08of the 1960s,
32:10taking home
32:10five Academy Awards
32:11and later coming in
32:13at number seven
32:14on AFI's list
32:15of 100 years,
32:16100 passions.
32:17What are we going
32:18to do?
32:19I don't know.
32:22Number 3.
32:23The English Patient
32:24The English Patient
32:25cracked the top 20
32:27of 1996's highest
32:28grossing films
32:29and took home
32:30nine Oscars.
32:31This made it
32:32a rare period romance
32:33that achieved
32:34massive critical
32:35and commercial success.
32:36It tells the story
32:37of a badly burned man
32:39recounting his life story
32:40to a nurse
32:41at the end of World War II.
32:42The fire is gone now
32:44and I'm horribly cold.
32:48Flashbacks chronicle
32:49how Count Laszlo de Almasy
32:51fell in love
32:51with a married woman
32:52along an epic journey
32:54through the Sahara Desert.
32:55You still have sand
32:56in your hair.
33:04There's no shortage
33:05of steamy scenes
33:06and intense action
33:08and Ralph Fiennes
33:09and Kristen Scott Thomas
33:10deliver timeless performances
33:12as the doomed couple.
33:13Roger Ebert called it
33:14a quote,
33:15poetic, evocative film
33:16and we're hard-pressed
33:18to argue with him.
33:19I just want you to know
33:21I'm not missing you yet.
33:28You will.
33:30You will.
33:31Number 2.
33:32Titanic.
33:33What can we say
33:34about James Cameron's
33:35groundbreaking 1997 film
33:37that hasn't already been said?
33:39Three years.
33:41I've thought of nothing
33:42except Titanic
33:44but I never got it.
33:46The romance between
33:47Leonardo DiCaprio's
33:48Jack Dawson
33:49and Kate Winslet's
33:50Rose DeWitt Bucator
33:51would have likely
33:52still enthralled viewers
33:53even if it hadn't
33:54taken place
33:55aboard the RMS Titanic.
33:56After all,
33:57it's the stuff
33:58of cinematic legend.
33:59Jack, I want you
34:00to draw me
34:00like one of your
34:01French girls
34:03wearing this.
34:05All right.
34:08Wearing only this.
34:09There are simply
34:10too many iconic scenes
34:12to choose from.
34:13From Rose sitting
34:14for Jack
34:14to the pair dancing
34:16to those heartbreaking
34:17scenes of survival.
34:19The romance
34:20at the heart
34:20of Titanic
34:21has gone on
34:21to inspire
34:22countless young lovers
34:23to share a tender embrace
34:25on the bows of ships
34:26the world over.
34:27Winning that ticket,
34:28Rose,
34:28was the best thing
34:29that ever happened
34:30to me.
34:32It brought me to you.
34:36And I'm thankful
34:37for that, Rose.
34:41Are you a musician,
34:42singer, producer,
34:43or band?
34:44SoundMojo
34:45is committing $50,000
34:46to turn our demos
34:48into real recordings.
34:51Earn $1,000 per song
34:53or $500
34:54plus a 50% revenue share.
34:56Think you can bring
34:57our music to life
34:58or make it even better?
35:00Apply to the SoundMojo
35:01label fund today.
35:08Number one,
35:09Pride and Prejudice.
35:11A romantic period piece
35:12adapted from a Jane Austen
35:13novel starring Keira Knightley,
35:15it doesn't get much
35:16better than that.
35:16I don't understand.
35:18I love you.
35:22Most ardently.
35:24Pride and Prejudice
35:24is probably Austen's
35:26most well-known novel,
35:27with a setting,
35:28characters,
35:29and themes
35:29that her work
35:30will forever be
35:31synonymous with.
35:32The 2005 film adaptation
35:34is no different.
35:36Knightley shines
35:37as protagonist
35:37Elizabeth Bennet,
35:39whose search for love
35:40weaves her in and out
35:41of the life
35:41of the stoic
35:42yet handsome
35:43Mr. Darcy.
35:44Mr. Darcy.
35:46I can more easily
35:47forgive his vanity
35:48had he not wounded mine.
35:50Nominated for four
35:51Academy Awards,
35:53Pride and Prejudice
35:53garnered rave reviews
35:54from critics,
35:55cementing its place
35:56as one of the 21st century's
35:58definitive romantic films.
36:05What's your favorite
36:06cinematic love story
36:07for the ages?
36:08Take us back
36:09in the comments below.