Romance films involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus onpassion,emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey throughdating,courtship ormarriage is featured. These films focus on the search for romantic love as the main plot focus. Occasionally, romance lovers face obstacles such asfinances, physicalillness, various forms ofdiscrimination, psychological restraints, or family resistance. As in all quite strong, deep, and close romantic relationships, the tensions of day-to-day life,temptations (ofinfidelity), and differences in compatibility enter into the plots of romantic films.[1]
Romantic films often explore the essential themes oflove at first sight, young and mature love, unrequited love, obsession, sentimental love,spiritual love, forbidden love, platonic love, sexual and passionate love, sacrificial love, explosive and destructive love, andtragic love. Romantic films serve as great escapes and fantasies for viewers, especially if the two leads finally overcome their difficulties, declare their love, and experience their "happily ever after", often implied by a reunion and final kiss. In romantic television series, such romantic relationships may develop over many episodes or different characters may become intertwined in different romantic arcs.
The proportion of romance films within the total number of movies produced has significantly declined in recent years. According to data fromIMDb, the share of romance films decreased from 34.8% of all movies released in 2000 to 8.6% in the most recent year reported.[3]
Romance films have experienced a cyclical presence in cinema history. They constituted a substantial portion of the movies released from the 1940s through the early 1960s, followed by a notable decline. The genre experienced a gradual recovery over the last three decades of the 20th century, peaking in the early 2000s. However, this trend has reversed in more recent times. Moreover, the integration of romance as a subplot in films of other genres, such asaction movies, also appears to be diminishing.[3]
Paranormal romance is a popular genre of film that features romantic relationships between humans and supernatural creatures.[6] Popular tropes includevampirism,time travel,ghosts and psychic or telekinetic abilities – i.e. things that cannot be explained by science.[7] The genre originated in literature and moved on to the screen in the early 2000s, following the success of the Twilight Saga adaptations fromStephenie Meyer's books.[8] By 2007–08, film studios were producing various paranormal romance films, many adapted from novels.[8]
Romantic dramas usually revolve around an obstacle that prevents deep and true love between two people. Music is often employed to indicate the emotional mood, creating an atmosphere of greater insulation for the couple. The conclusion of a romantic drama typically does not indicate whether a final romantic union between the two main characters will occur.
Romantic musical (alternativelymusical romance) is a genre of film that features romantic relationships and whose story is partially explained through song or dance numbers. This genre originated on Broadway and moved to the silver screen thanks in part to the popularity of theRodgers and Hammerstein productions.
Thescreenwriters taxonomy creates additional categories beyond "subgenre" when discussing films, making the argument that all narrative Hollywood films can be delineated into comedies or dramas (identified as a "film type").[12] The taxonomy also identifies fifty "macro genres", which can be paired with theromance super genre.[13] Using this approach, films likeGone with the Wind (noted above) would be classified as a dramatic (type) historical/family (macro genres) romance (genre) rather than simply a historical romance; whileThe Notebook would be identified at dramatic (type) disease (macro genre) romance (genre) rather than simply a romantic drama.[14]
Similarly, musicals are categorized as one option for a filmmaker's "voice" because the artistic choice to have the characters sing does not affect the story or the characters – it simply alters how the story and characters are conveyed.[15] Therefore, a romance film likeGrease would be categorized as a dramatic (type), romance (super genre), high school / coming of age (macro genres), musical (voice) – rather than simply as a "musical romance".[16]
^Williams, Eric R. (2017).The screenwriters taxonomy : a roadmap to collaborative storytelling. New York, NY: Routledge Studies in Media Theory and Practice.ISBN978-1-315-10864-3.OCLC993983488. P. 21
^Simpson, John, ed. (2009).Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition, on CD-ROM Version 4.0. Oxford: Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-956383-8.
^Stevenson, Angus; Lindberg, Christine A., eds. (2010).New Oxford American Dictionary, Third Edition. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 300.ISBN978-0-19-539288-3.
^Tobin-McClain, Lee (2000). "Paranormal Romance: Secretsof the Female Fantastic".Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts.11 (3 (43)):294–306.ISSN0897-0521.JSTOR43308461.
^abCrawford, Joseph. (2014).The twilight of the Gothic. Vampire fiction and the rise of the paranormal romance. University of Wales Press.ISBN978-1-78316-064-8.OCLC894201495.
^Williams, Eric R. (2019). "Episode #3: Comedy and Tragedy: Age Does Not Protect You." InFalling in Love with Romance Movies. Audible Original.
^Williams, Eric R. "Macro Genres and Micro Genres." InThe Screenwriters Taxonomy: A Roadmap to Collaborative Storytelling. New York, NY: Routledge, 2018. p. 47–55.
^Williams, Eric R. (2019). "Episode #9: Other Genres: Where There is Love." InFalling in Love with Romance Movies. Audible Original.
^Williams, Eric R. (2018). "Episode #24: Filmmaker's Voice and Audience Choice". InHow to View and Appreciate Great Movies. The Great Courses / Audible.
^Williams, Eric R. (2019). "Episode #6: Voices: Though the Stars Walk Backward." InFalling in Love with Romance Movies. Audible Original.
