Tired of the sappy unrealistic romance of ‘chic flick’ movies? Forget sighing over not receiving lovey-dovey cards, fattening chocolates or exploitively expensive Roses! Gather your single friends together for an impromptu pyjama party, find a great wine and a strong cheese, and take your pick of these:
Letter from an Unknown Women (1948, Director: Max Ophüls)
Stefan, a jaded composer (Louis Jourdan) receives a death-bed letter from a Covent hospital. Seemingly from a stranger named Lisa (Joan Fontaine) she writes she has known and loved him three times over, each time to her detriment. Stefan, a notorious womanizer, remembers nothing of her, but the letter reveals all.
Dangerous Liaisons (1988, Dr: Stephen Frears)
or Valmont (1989, Dr: Milos Forman)
Opt for either the American (Glenn Close, John Malkovich, Michelle Pfeiffer) or European (Colin Firth, Annette Benning, Meg Tilly) version - same story, different ensemble. Simply take one bitter French widow and one dissipated Count then watch the ever-increasing ripples of destruction created when they contrive a cynical bet to bring down one virtuous woman.
The Good Earth (1937, Dr: Sidney Franklin)
Adapted from Pearl Buck’s beloved novel of China, this is a tale of Wang-Lung, an unassuming dirt-poor farmer (Paul Muni) whose luck changes when he is given O-lan (Luise Rainer), an unwanted house slave, as a bride. Despite neglect, bad harvests and near starvation, she remains a dutiful wife even when her loyalty is sorely tested, as her husband’s sudden good fortune goes to his head.
Immortal Beloved (1994, Dr: Bernard Rose)
Composer Beethoven (Gary Oldman) dies, leaving friend and executor of his will Anton (Jeroen Crabbe) to discover the ‘immortal beloved’ to whom Lugwig has left a bequest. With only one love letter to go on, the movie follows Anton as he searches for Beethoven’s loves and muses, including the enigmatic Anna Marie (Isabella Rossellini).
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