It’s Valentine’s Day weekend, love is in the air and you may be looking to The Notebook or When Harry Met Sally to satisfy your romantic cravings.
But what if you’re looking for something a little off the beaten path? Something a little weirder? Maybe you want a kind of romance you’ve never seen before. Love is weird, after all.
This week, Watch With Us has listed five of our favorite “unconventional romance” movies about odd relationships, unfamiliar dynamics and unorthodox partners.
From Harold and Maude to Phantom Thread starring Daniel Day-Lewis, these five movies feature romances that aren’t like any others.
‘Harold and Maude’ (1971)
Harold Chasen (the late Bud Cort) is a young man obsessed with death and suicide, and we meet him at the start of the film having just faked his own hanging. Utterly disillusioned with life, Harold meets the eccentric, 79-year-old Maude (Ruth Gordon), and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. While Harold rejects the real world, Maude lives in her own, one in which she consistently has the time of her life, making the most of every day. Though seemingly opposite people, their differences ultimately attract them, and their friendship turns into something a little bit more.
Hal Ashby‘s offbeat classic Harold and Maude explores the meaning of life through the fresh perspective of a 20-year-old engaging in a romantic relationship with a 79-year-old. Such taboo subject matter is nevertheless an enduring, warm-hearted classic that is both funny and tender in equal measure. The film will reframe your outlook on what love — and life — can look like.
‘Lars and the Real Girl’ (2007)
Shy, socially awkward Lars (Ryan Gosling) has always struggled to meet women, even friends, and his brother Gus (Paul Schneider) and sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer) frequently worry about him. But when Lars claims to have met someone over the internet, the two of them are overjoyed — until they meet her. You see, Lars believes he is in a genuine relationship with a lifelike doll named Bianca. And since Lars’ therapist (Patricia Clarkson) believes it best to let Lars see this fantasy through, his family and his community go along with it to the very end.
Rather than be perverse or mean, Lars and the Real Girl takes its somewhat garish premise and crafts a sincere portrait of loneliness and one’s journey towards healing from trauma. Director Craig Gillespie never treats Lars’ nonsexual romance with Bianca as a long-running, one-note punchline, and instead considers Lars’ genuine feelings and the concern and love of the people around him. It makes a movie about a guy’s love for a sex doll into something shockingly sweet.
‘Swiss Army Man’ (2016)
Hank Thompson (Paul Dano) has been stranded on a deserted island for some time, and prepares to give up and kill himself when a dead body (Daniel Radcliffe) washes to the shore. Miraculously, Hank is able to use the man’s gaseous body like a motorboat and propel himself to the mainland. When they arrive, Hank still needs to figure out how to traverse the vast wilderness and make it home. Fortunately, Hank isn’t exactly alone — not only can the corpse talk, it also has multipurpose uses that can allow Hank to survive his journey.
During the trek back home, whether imagined or not, Hank develops a strengthening bond with the corpse, whom he has named Manny, and suddenly Hank has found the acceptance and companionship he sought from his old life. Yes, before winning a slew of Academy Awards for Everything Everywhere All at Once, the Daniels directing dupmade a movie about a guy falling in love with a talking corpse. Strange and unique, the film is directed with joyous verve, carried by an infectious score and genuinely moving performances from Dano and Radcliffe.
‘Secretary’ (2002)
Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a young woman with a history of severe mental illness, is released from a stay at a hospital and goes to live with her overbearing parents. In need of work, Lee answers a job ad for a position as a secretary to an odd, demanding attorney named E. Edward Grey (James Spader). Stern, critical and extremely domineering, Lee soon finds herself turned on by Edward’s disparaging behavior. One thing leads to another, and the two come to have a sadomasochistic love story for the ages.
Secretary is certainly a shocking film, but it’s also a story about finding that one weird freak who loves you just for being a weird freak. Blending a sensitive approach to sensitive material with a sense of humor that never mocks, Secretary manages to craft a story about healing through pain, made all the more poignant by the unmistakable chemistry between Gyllenhaal and Spader, whose equally peculiar personalities complement one another.
‘Phantom Thread’ (2017)
Fussy Reynolds Woodcock (Day-Lewis) is one of the most sought-after dress designers in all of London, with women from royalty to celebrity flocking to his workshop for one of his original pieces. However, when it comes to romance with women, Reynolds isn’t quite as beloved. He tires of them quickly, moving on and letting them go with cold ambivalence. When he meets the strong-willed Alma (Vicky Krieps), he believes he can toss her off like the rest. But Alma won’t let Reynolds get rid of her that easily.
It’s tricky to discuss just how strange the romance of Phantom Thread gets without spoiling the climax of the movie, but suffice it to say Paul Thomas Anderson‘s period drama is weirder than it looks, more romantic than it might seem and also funnier than you might catch on a first watch. Do you ever just love someone so much you want to make them sick with need? Are you the kind of person who wants to be sick with need? If either of these applies to you, you may empathize with Alma and Reynolds. If not, you’ll find yourself surprisingly charmed by their perverse dynamic.
Read the full article here
