Tragedy and Love in Romance Films

Paper Summary:

The writer compares and analyzes "Brief Encounter" and "The Pumpkin Eater" with reference to the cinema of the time, including an in-depth investigation into the film-noir style 'romance' films of the British cinema of the 1940s. The paper looks to answer the question of whether or not these romance films were actually romantic.

From the Paper:

"The elements that characterize romance films are that they "center on passion, emotion and the romantic and affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage." They often explore the themes of "love at first sight, unrequited love, obsessive love, sentimental love, spiritual love, forbidden love, sexual and passionate love, sacrificed love, explosive and destructive love and tragic love" They usually follow the trials and tribulations of the couple as they make their way through an episode in their lives. Typically romances have a "happily ever after" ending that leaves the audience feeling fulfilled, however there are some films that it is very difficult to classify as "typical" romances even though they are undeniably romances. There are a huge stock of romantic films that are instantly forgettable but what makes a romantic film enduring is that romance is not its primary concern it has more substance a simple exploration of a straightforward relationship. Brief Encounter is one such film, generally regarded as one of the greatest love stories ever to be produced by the British cinema. It is however not a typical romance and has definite tones of film noir and so does not adhere to the conventions of romantic films. Film noir is usually takes as its subject crime or mystery but there are some that deal mainly with romance such as The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity, both adaptations of James M. Cain novels that are "seething with lustful self destructive romantic relationships between a femme fatale and an entrapped male partner" . Another example from the British cinema of a romance disguised as something else is The Pumpkin Eater. This film purports to explore the psychological and emotional state of a woman, and is an examination of these elements of her character. Her psychological and emotional state is however intrinsically linked to her relationship with her husband Jake. Both films deal with the romantic lives of the main characters, but are both undeniably tragic and somewhat disconcerting tales of love and marriage from a female, middle class perspective."

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