Valentine's Day movies through the ages: 10 decades of romantic films
10 of the best love stories from 100 years of cinema
Morgan Truder
Valentine’s Day and love have long been a muse for filmmakers, inspiring stories that range from heart-fluttering romance to quiet heartbreak. Across the decades, the way love is portrayed on screen has evolved, reflecting changing social norms, cinematic styles, and cultural attitudes toward relationships. Some films sweep us off our feet with grand gestures and star-crossed passion, while others linger in the small, intimate moments that make love feel real.
From the golden age of Hollywood to contemporary streaming hits, these films have shaped how we think about romance, desire, and the inevitable complications that come with it.
Each decade has produced its own iconic moments, from epic period dramas to tender, understated character studies and stories that celebrate love in all its messiness. Critically acclaimed, culturally influential, or simply endlessly rewatchable, these Valentine’s Day-worthy films showcase the evolution of romance on screen, proving that no matter the era, cinema’s fascination with love remains timeless.
1930s: Gone with the Wind
Gone with the Wind is now viewed as a foundational text for big-budget cinema, with its troubled production and enormous box office takings entering into legend. At its heart, however, the film is just a sweeping old romance story. Sure, it’s very much a product of its time, but the story of southern belle Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh) and her tempestuous relationship with cynical cad Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) is a dysfunctional love story for the ages.
1940s: Brief Encounter
![Brief Encounter (1945) ORIGINAL TRAILER [FHD] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/PPZyNzSrm2Y/maxresdefault.jpg)
Written by Noël Coward and beautifully shot by David Lean, Brief Encounter’s scandalous (for its time) romance and evocative pre-war setting proved to be hugely influential. It tells the story of two married middle class English people who realise – to their mutual anxiety – that they share an intense attraction. The mannered delivery by the film’s two would-be-adulterers might feel decidedly dated to modern eyes, but it’s still impossible not to be swept along with it all.
1950s: An Affair to Remember
With a snappy script and huge performances from a pair of charismatic leads in Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, it’s easy to see why An Affair to Remember has become a key reference point for subsequent romantic movies. Our two star-crossed lovers meet on a transatlantic ocean liner to New York, and resolve to meet on the Empire State Building six months later with their affairs duly put in order. Suffice to say, the road to a romantic reunion proves to be a bumpy one.
1960s: The Apartment
Some Like it Hot gets all the headlines, but many hold The Apartment to be the better Billy Wilder film. It’s certainly the more romantic of the two, as we follow Jack Lemon’s downtrodden office drone and his timid pursuit of a heartbroken elevator operator played by Shirley MacLaine. Despite its frothy premise and lightly comic tone, The Apartment is surprisingly unafraid to go to some fairly dark places as our two bruised leads come to confide in one another.
1970s: Days of Heaven
Terrence Malick’s pastoral masterpiece is as much about romance as it is about the golden fields of the American Midwest. The story of Bill (Richard Gere), Abby (Brooke Adams), and the wealthy farmer he works for is a slow-burning tale of forbidden desire, jealousy, and longing. Every frame feels painterly, the cinematography by Néstor Almendros won an Oscar, and the love story between Bill and Abby unfolds with quiet intensity. It’s a film that lingers in the mind, proving that romance doesn’t need dialogue to be utterly affecting.
1980s: When Harry Met Sally
Few romantic comedies have the poise or patience to tell a smart, funny, compelling will-they-won’t-they story over a 12 year time period. But then, few romantic comedies have Nora Ephron writing the script, Rob Reiner directing, and two of the most lovable leads of their generation. We all know the story by now, as the relationship between two New Yorkers (played by Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal) goes from actively hostile to platonic to regretful, before ending up in belated acceptance. Yes, yes, yes, it’s a classic alright.
1990s: Before Sunrise
Richard Linklater’s first in a trilogy of romantic films sees two 20-somethings meeting on a train, then wandering around Vienna talking about love and life all night. It’s hardly a premise to set the pulse racing, but the key to Before Sunrise’s appeal is the cool chemistry between its two leads (played by Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) and the gently meandering nature of their conversations. It’s a romantic film very much in the Gen-X mould, though it’s sure to nod to its cinematic forbears along the way. Watching the story continue over the following two sequels is breath-taking stuff, too.
2000s: In the Mood for Love
We don’t know of any other movie couple you’ll be willing to get it on more than Maggie Cheung’s Mrs. Chan and Tony Leung’s Chow Mo-wan. These two handsomely attired neighbours living in a bustling ’60s Hong Kong apartment block discover that their spouses are cheating on them, but their gloomy attempts to nail down how the affair might have progressed leads to a cautious courtship. One of the most beautiful movies ever made, and a real heart breaker.
2010s: Carol
In a decade that turned up a surprising number of high-class romantic movies (La La Land, Her, Portrait of a Lady On Fire, The Big Sick), Carol ultimately won our hearts. Todd Haynes’s movie is simply an exquisite piece of filmmaking, expertly conveying the prim window dressing and suffocating social norms of ’50s America. As Cate Blanchett’s glamorous socialite falls for Rooney Mara’s younger shop worker one Christmas, you can practically feel the repressed longing.
2020s: Past Lives
Past Lives is the perfect pick for our current mixed-up decade – especially as a counterpoint to the classically weepy We Live in Time. It’s not really a romance movie in the traditional sense, but it is a deeply romantic movie about the complex relationship between two childhood sweethearts. It’s also one of the best films of the 2020s so far, with its beautifully observed insight into the immigrant experience and its wistful reflection on roads not taken.
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