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There's something extremely special about Period movies. They are able to take the viewers back to a completely different time. The historicity is only a part of it, it is the ability to create a world that is like the present in many ways, but not in other ways, that makes it special. There is something even more incredibly special about Romantic Period movies.

RELATED: 10 Best Period Dramas To Stream On Netflix

Stories of star-crossed lovers in times before the internet are very appealing to audiences for many reasons. The centrality of the romance in the absence of other externalities makes it more engaging for viewers. Here are some of the best Romantic Period movies.

10 Mansfield Park (7.1)

This 1999 British movie is based on the novel of the same title written by Jane Austen. There are some deviations from the book and artistic licenses the movie takes. It is a more modern take with a cast that includes Frances O'Connor, Jonny Lee Miller, Anna Popplewell, James Purefoy, and more. Patricia Rozema's take on the characters shows Fanny, not as a frail, shy girl but as a smart, quick-witted character. The chemistry between Fanny and Edmund is brilliant thanks to Frances and Jonny.

9 Shakespeare In Love (7.1)

This 1998 Romantic Period film won 7 Oscars at the Academy Awards. The film plays with history and one of Shakespeare's actual plays, Romeo and Juliet. This imaginary love story happens between Shakespeare, played by Joseph Fiennes and Gwenyth Paltrow. The setting, the Shakespearean monologues, the dramatic tension, all provide for an exciting watch for viewers. This movie takes a lot of artistic freedom to create an enchanting and dramatic love story worthy of Shakespeare himself. Shakespeare in Love is incredibly funny and romantic and the actors perform their characters very well.

8 The Age Of Innocence (7.2)

Based on the novel of the same title written by Edith Wharton, this movie was directed by the legendary Martin Scorsese. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder and Michelle Pfeiffer among others, the actors bring to life Newland Archer, May Welland, and Ellen Olenska.

RELATED: Martin Scorsese: 5 Best Book-To-Movie Adaptations (& 5 That Didn't Impress)

The chemistry between these actors, the different romantic entanglements are shown beautifully in this film. Quite different from the usual Scorsese fare, The Age of Innocence is elegant, romantic yet stylish. The movie is firm in its Period piece roots but still manages to engage modern viewers in its complicated story of love.

7 The Great Gatsby (7.2)

The 2013 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel of the same name is a bright, colorful, exciting watch. This film adaptation has an extremely popular star cast with Leonardo DiCaprio, Toby Maguire, Cary Mulligan, Isla Fisher, and more.  This American classic of the doomed love story of Jay Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan is captured with all of its dazzling embellishments. The contemporary and modern music score also adds to this film elevating it from a far-away period piece, to something that is quite modern.

6 Jane Eyre (7.3)

This 2011 adaptation of Charlotte Bronte's novel of the same name is eerie and beautiful to watch. Mia Wasikowska breathes life into Jane Eyre and performs it with the tenderness, sensitivity, and sharpness that the role requires. Michael Fassbender plays the Byronic hero Edward Rochester with the rugged charm the role calls for. Their performance and chemistry turn this slow story into a very moving one. Viewers will be in a dilemma to root for their getting-together considering Rochester's ex-wife Bertha Mason as well.

5 Sense And Sensibility (7.6)

This 1995 adaptation of the Jane Austen novel of the same name was written by Emma Thompson, who stars in the movie as well. Ang Lee directs this Romantic Period movie that boasts of an extraordinary star cast including the likes of Kate Winslet, Alan Rickman, Hugh Grant, Hugh Laurie, and more.

RELATED: 10 Best Jane Austen Adaptations To See After Emma, Ranked According To Rotten Tomatoes

These highly skilled actors bring another dimension to this story and make it a very warm and relevant portrayal. The release of this movie also brought Jane Austen to a whole new generation of audiences, with more adaptations being successively made.

4 Atonement (7.8)

This 2007 film was based on Ian McEwan's novel of the same name and was nominated for a variety of Academy Awards. With a strong cast including the likes of Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan, Benedict Cumberbatch, and more, the movie was praised for their performances. The movie is a visual treat and the cinematography and soundtrack were also much appreciated. The viewers get invested in the love story of Cecilia and Robbie because of the chemistry of the actors Knightley and McAvoy, who play these characters respectively.

3 Titanic (7.8)

This 1997 modern classic flits back and forth from history to present in its storytelling. This epic romance of massive proportions draws viewers especially because of the wonderfully young and innocent love story between Jack and Rose played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. This James Cameron movie was nominated for 14 Academy Awards and won 11 of them. This movie intersperses history and fiction to create a love story that is now deeply embedded into pop culture. This love story crosses class barriers that are captured through instances like Jack's attempts to socialize with the people in the first class, and Rose's joy in dancing with the people in the third-class.

2 Pride & Prejudice (7.8)

This 2005 adaptation is based on Jane Austen's novel of the same name. The love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy is one that is very popular. And it became all the more popular thanks to Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden's incredible chemistry performing these characters.

RELATED: Pride & Prejudice: The 10 Best Movie & TV Adaptations, Ranked According To IMDb

This fresh take on the story shines because of Knightley's performance as the strong-willed, charismatic Elizabeth Bennet who refuses to live by society's expectations for her. This Romantic Period movie is delightful to watch and the characters are very endearing.

1 Little Women (7.9)

This 2019 film is an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel of the same name. A very modern take on the classic, this movie is a period film filled with nuanced women and thought-provoking monologues. Greta Gerwig's film is a visual delight and uses color to go back and forth in time. Though the story mostly revolves around the female characters and their camaraderie, the movie does get its viewers invested in the many romantic entanglements. Special mention has to be given to Saoirse Ronan and Timothee Chalamet for their performances.

NEXT: 10 Best Movie Adaptations Of 19th-Century Novels (That Aren't Jane Austen), According To Rotten Tomatoes

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NextDCEU: One Quote From Each Hero That Perfectly Sums Up Their Personality

The gothic romance genre can be defined by plot points, setting, or atmosphere. Oftentimes, movies within this genre share DNA with horror films or thrillers, as they typically inspire feelings of fear and dread. With gothic romance, there is often a mystery surrounding either the setting or one of the main characters, which the heroine attempts to solve.

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Dreams often feature heavily in these stories, with protagonists expressing their deepest anxieties through nightmares that provide insight to the mystery at hand. Paranormal elements also often feature heavily or are implied as a means of further inspiring fear. The romances in these films are unique in the dreadful circumstances they're thrown into, with heightened stakes and high levels of emotional distress.

10 Crimson Peak (2015) - 6.5

Crimson Peak contains all the elements of gothic romance. Edith Cushing, played by Mia Wasikowska, is haunted by dreams that carry omens of danger that awaits at a place called Crimson Peak. She meets Thomas, played by Tom Hiddleston, and the two fall in love despite her father's reservations and Thomas's mysterious behavior.

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When her father is violently murdered, Edith marries Thomas and moves to the estate that he shares with his cold and cruel sister, Lucille. Lucille is poisoning Edith, who discovers that the place she has moved to is called Crimson Peak. A series of disturbing revelations and violent confrontations ensue, which won't be spoiled here. The heroine's fear, the gloomy atmosphere, and the paranormal elements are just a few of the things that make this film a perfect gothic romance.

9 Sleepy Hollow (1999) - 7.3

Sleepy Hollow is Tim Burton's take on the classic headless horseman tale. Johnny Depp plays Ichabod Crane, a young detective tasked with finding out the culprit of a series of beheadings that take place in a small rural village. The townspeople believe that a headless horseman is to blame, but Ichabod is hesitant to put any stock in supernatural tales.

When he witnesses the headless horseman decapitate a man with his own eyes, he believes in the paranormal and changes the tactics of his investigation. He eventually uncovers a conspiracy around who the horseman is murdering while falling in love with a beautiful young woman (Christina Ricci). Although the romance isn't central to the plot, it provides a deeper sense of mystery, as well as a respite from the darker elements of the story, and Ichabod is similar to mnay protagonists of the genre.

8 Corpse Bride (2005) - 7.3

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp teamed up again in 2005 for Corpse Bride, an animated feature that falls into the same genre as Sleepy Hollow. A young couple, Victor and Victoria, are rehearsing their wedding vows, which Victor can't remember. He goes into the woods to practice his vows and places the ring intended for his bride on what he thinks is a tree root, but is actually the finger of an undead woman named Emily, who was murdered on the night of her wedding.

RELATED: Tim Burton's 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes

After unwillingly traveling to the land of the dead with Emily, Victor wishes to return to the living so he can be with Victoria. Emily tries to prevent their union, wanting Victor for herself. Sinister secrets are revealed, but the story has a sweet, romantic ending.

7 Jane Eyre (2011) - 7.3

Jane Eyre is one of the most influential stories in the genre. It has been adapted numerous times, but the 2011 adaptation, starring Mia Wasikowska and Michael Fassbender, finally strikes the correct balance between the gothic and romantic elements of Charlotte Brontë's text. A series of mysterious happenings at Thornfield cause Jane to be ill-at-ease: strange laughter coming from a room upstairs, things in the house being set on fire in the middle of the night, and a violent encounter that leaves a man nearly dead.

Rochester, a classic Byronic hero, adds to this mystery by his avoidance of the subject and his refusal to give any clear explanation as to what is happening.

6 Wuthering Heights (1939) - 7.6

Wuthering Heights is another classic of the gothic romance genre. This film adaptation of the novel by Emily Brontë focuses on the first half of the narrative, smartly excluding the troubles of the second generation and making for a more streamlined, modest telling of Cathy and Heathcliff's story.

When a man comes upon Wuthering Heights on a stormy evening, he's met with cruelty and cold indifference by Heathcliff (played brilliantly by Lawrence Olivier), the master of the house. The dark interior and the sprawling moors provide a setting that lends itself to a supernatural paranoia felt by both the characters and the audience. This story leaves ambiguous whether or not anything truly paranormal is going on, or if Heathcliff's grief has simply driven him mad.

5 Ex Machina (2014) - 7.7

Ex Machina places the elements of gothic romance in the trappings of a sci-fi film about artificial intelligence. Domhnall Gleeson's character, Caleb, is asked to carry out a Turing Test of sorts on Ava, played by Alicia Vikander, an advanced A.I. robot created by wealthy inventor Gabriel (Oscar Isaac). Gabriel's behavior is strange, putting Caleb in a state of unease.

The story is set in Gabriel's secluded, super-modern mansion, but the size of the house and the camerawork provide the same effect as if it were shot at a dark, ivy-colored castle. Caleb behaves like a hero and imagines Ava as a damsel in distress in need of saving, but the ending of the film forgoes a more obvious conclusion for something far more unnerving.

4 Edward Scissorhands (1990) - 7.9

There's a shot in Edward Scissorhands of a cheerful, brightly-colored suburban street. In the distance, a large, black castle looms with startling juxtaposition. This is Tim Burton's style in a nutshell; he manages to find the light in the dark, and the dark in the light.

A suburb of brightly colored houses is filled with cruel, ignorant people. The monster from the gothic castle at the top of the hill has a bigger heart than any of them. Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder's chemistry gives this Frankenstein-esque tale a sweet romance to root for, despite the many obstacles their relationship faces (scissors for hands, for one).

3 Let The Right One In (2008) - 7.9

Let the Right One In is a gothic romance about the budding feelings between two children. Oskar, a prepubescent boy who struggles to fit in at school meets a mysterious child named Eli, who warns him that they should not be friends, in a subversion of the damsel in distress/Byronic hero trope often found in this genre.

A series of killings frighten the townspeople, and Eli admits to Oskar that they are a vampire. The presence of this young vampire continues to disrupt the town, as Oskar and Eli become more attached to one another. It's creepy, macabre, and very, very sweet.

2 Rebecca (1940) - 8.1

Alfred Hitchcock was always a great choice when it came to gothic romance. His mastery of imagery and suspense, as well as his ability to get the best performances from his actors, make for dark, moody, and frightening pictures. Rebecca, based on the novel by Daphne du Maurier, tells the story of a young woman who marries a mysterious man and goes to live with him at his grand estate.

What she quickly finds is that his previous wife, who is said to have drowned the year prior, haunts the house with an inescapable presence that torments the heroine. Gothic romance is never lighthearted, and often the protagonist is put through extreme emotional distress. Joan Fontaine plays the nameless narrator with the perfect balance of naïveté, awkwardness, anxiety, and the difficult-to-define quality of teetering on the edge of losing it.

1 Vertigo (1958) - 8.3

Genres often overlap and share traits from both a story and an aesthetic standpoint. Vertigo is many things; a noir, a thriller, a mystery, and a romance. Though it isn't often considered a gothic romance, the pieces are there. The mystery Jimmy Stewart's detective finds himself in is chilling and unsettling.

The supernatural plays a role in the plot, as the Madeline, the woman he's been tailing, is thought to be possessed by the spirit of a dead woman. Hitchcock is able to turn any setting into a haunted house, creating tension and a sense of unpredictability that inspires true fear and paranoia.

NEXT: 10 Best Alfred Hitchcock Movies, According To IMDb

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Next10 Best Comedies Of All Time, According To Ranker

1981 film by Albert Brooks

Modern Romance is a 1981 American comedyromance film directed by and starring Albert Brooks,^[2] who also co-wrote the script with Monica Mcgowan Johnson.^[3] It co-stars Kathryn Harrold and Bruno Kirby.

Plot[edit]

Robert Cole (Albert Brooks) is a Hollywood film editor right in the middle of cutting a new science fictionfilm featuring George Kennedy. His relationship with very patient bank executive Mary Harvard (Kathryn Harrold) is caught between undying devotion and endless agony. It's all because selfish Robert is a bit of a self-involved neurotic who can't quite decide if their relationship is meant to be, mainly because he's not sure if she's the one or there's someone else.

Robert breaks off their relationship only to find that modern romance isn't as easy as it seems, and the people you love might be the ones you constantly hurt the most. He and Mary end up driving to a cabin in Idyllwild, California, where intense jealousy causes Robert to alternately accuse and annoy Mary and propose marriage to her.

Cast[edit]

Production[edit]

Bruno Kirby co-stars as Jay, Robert's co-worker and confidant, and Brooks' brother Bob Einstein, best known as hapless daredevil Super Dave Osborne, plays a pushy salesman at a sporting goods store.

A third brother, Cliff, has a cameo in the scenes set in the recording studio. He plays the music mixer, the bald man sitting to the left of the head mixer, who gets up and goes to his car during the break.

David, the director of the film that Robert is editing, is played by real-life film director James L. Brooks – no relation to Albert. He would later return the favor by casting Albert in his Academy Award-nominated role of Aaron Altman in Broadcast News.

According to Albert Brooks, Stanley Kubrick was a big fan of the film. He tells the story that Kubrick called him after viewing the film and asked, "How did you make this movie? I've always wanted to make a movie about jealousy."^{[4][dead link]}

Reception[edit]

The film holds an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 22 reviews. The site's critical consensus states: "Modern Romance contains all the hallmarks of Albert Brooks' best work: darkly funny, confrontational, and chock full of pithy observations about human behavior."^[5]

References[edit]

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