50 Lighthearted Films About Relationships
I usually find it difficult to root for people being in love in films, as it lacks the sincerity of the real thing. It needs more bickering, passion, humor and lightheartedness to convince me. But sometimes a director finds the right tone. This is a list with films that have a sincere portrait of a relationship, at least in my opinion.
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- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudClaude JadeDelphine SeyrigAfter being discharged from the army, Antoine Doinel centers a screwball comedy where he applies for different jobs and tries to make sense of his relationships with women.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsJean-Louis TrintignantFrançoise FabianMarie-Christine BarraultA devout Catholic man's rigid principles are challenged during a one-night stay with Maud, a divorced woman with an outsize personality.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsClark GableClaudette ColbertWalter ConnollyA rogue reporter trailing a runaway heiress for a big story joins her on a bus heading from Florida to New York and they end up stuck with each other when the bus leaves them behind at one of the stops along the way.
- DirectorFrank CapraStarsJean ArthurJames StewartLionel BarrymoreThe son of a snobbish Wall Street banker becomes engaged to a woman from a good-natured but decidedly eccentric family not realizing that his father is trying to force her family from their home for a real estate development.
- DirectorMarcel CarnéStarsJean GabinMichel SimonMichèle MorganA military deserter finds love and trouble (and a small dog) in a foggy, French port city.
- DirectorAgnès JaouiStarsMarilou BerryJean-Pierre BacriAgnès JaouiA french girl gifted with a great voice, has a complex about her weight and her appearance.
- DirectorMarion VernouxStarsValeria Bruni TedeschiPatrick Dell'IsolaSergi LópezAn executive and a dowdy working-class woman, both unemployed, married and parents meet at a supermarket. They become friends but find it hard to accept that they may be in love with each other.
- DirectorJean VigoStarsDita ParloJean DastéGilles MargaritisNewly married couple Juliette and a ship captain Jean struggle through marriage as they travel on the L'atalante along with the captain's first mate Le père Jules and a cabin boy.
- DirectorErmanno OlmiStarsAnna CanziCarlo CabriniDespite his fiancee's reluctance, a young man moves to Sicily for a better job, but soon starts questioning his decision.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsKatharine HepburnCary GrantDoris NolanA young man in love with a girl from a rich family finds his unorthodox plan to go on holiday for the early years of his life met with skepticism by everyone except for his fiancée's eccentric sister and long-suffering brother.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsEmmanuelle RivaEiji OkadaStella DassasA French actress filming an anti-war film in Hiroshima has an affair with a married Japanese architect as they share their differing perspectives on war.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDavid NivenKim HunterRobert CooteA British wartime aviator who cheats death must argue for his life before a celestial court, hoping to prolong his fledgling romance with an American girl.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsAl PacinoMarthe KellerAnny DupereyBobby Deerfield, a famous American race car driver on the European circuit, falls in love with the enigmatic Lillian Morelli, who is terminally ill.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsYou GeGong LiBen NiuAfter Fugui and Jiazhen lose their personal fortunes, they raise a family and survive difficult cultural changes during 1940s to 1970s China.
- DirectorErnst LubitschStarsCharles BoyerJennifer JonesPeter LawfordA free-spirited parlor maid and a Czech refugee surprise an English village with their unconventional ways.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJack LemmonShirley MacLaineFred MacMurrayA Manhattan insurance clerk tries to rise in his company by letting its executives use his apartment for trysts, but complications and a romance of his own ensue.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJudy HollidayWilliam HoldenBroderick CrawfordA tycoon hires a tutor to teach his lover proper etiquette, with unexpected results.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudClaude JadeMarie-France PisierAntoine Doinel is now more than thirty. He divorces from Christine. He is a proofreader, and is in love with Sabine, a record seller. Colette, his teenager love, is now a lawyer. She buys Antoine's first published autobiographical novel. They meet again in a station...
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsPatricia WaltersNora SwinburneEsmond KnightThe growing pains of three young women contrast with the immutability of the holy Bengal River, around which their daily lives unfold.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsMassimo GirottiLucia BosèGino RossiPaola is a young, beautiful woman married to a wealthy entrepreneur. She meets her former lover Guido after seven years, but their relationship is marked by tragic events.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouMathieu KassovitzRufusDespite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.
- DirectorEttore ScolaStarsSophia LorenMarcello MastroianniJohn VernonTwo neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler's visit to Italy in May 1938.
- DirectorLeo McCareyStarsCary GrantDeborah KerrRichard DenningA couple falls in love and agrees to meet in six months at the Empire State Building - but will it happen?
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsCatherine DeneuveGérard DepardieuJean PoiretIn occupied Paris, an actress married to a Jewish theater owner must keep him hidden from the Germans while doing both of their jobs.
- DirectorWilliam WylerStarsGregory PeckAudrey HepburnEddie AlbertA bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsCelia JohnsonTrevor HowardStanley HollowayMeeting a stranger in a railway station, a woman is tempted to cheat on her husband.
- DirectorDesmond DavisStarsPeter FinchRita TushinghamLynn RedgraveIn 1960s Dublin a young girl becomes involved with an older man, a much-travelled and still married land-owner.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean-Pierre LéaudClaude JadeHiroko BerghauerAntoine Doinel works dying flowers in the courtyard outside his apartment. He is married to Christine, who is pregnant. He has an affair with a Japanese woman, jeopardising his marriage.
- DirectorMichael PowellEmeric PressburgerStarsDeborah KerrDavid FarrarFlora RobsonA group of nuns struggle to establish a convent in the Himalayas, while isolation, extreme weather, altitude, and culture clashes all conspire to drive the well-intentioned missionaries mad.
- DirectorPierre ÉtaixStarsPierre ÉtaixAnnie FratelliniNicole CalfanAfter fifteen years of average married life and stifling in-laws, a businessman undergoes a midlife crisis and pursues his attractive young secretary.
- DirectorLuchino ViscontiStarsMaria SchellMarcello MastroianniJean MaraisA humble clerk courts a woman who awaits her lover's return night after night.
- DirectorPierre ÉtaixStarsPierre ÉtaixClaudine AugerPhilippe DionnetA man has everything: dozens of servants, a palace, vast woods, gardens, a lake, mechanical toys, private entertainment troupes of musicians and dancers. He has it all - but love. When alone, he sits at a desk, sighing, and looking at a photograph of a pretty girl. One day, the circus descended onto his palace, and amidst all the fun it brought, he recognized the Amazon on the white horse - the girl in the photograph. The girl is now the mother of a small boy, Yo-Yo, whom she considers that looks like the millionaire, even under a clown's make-up. The boy will spend some time in the palace, in awe of so much riches, but he will leave (in a dream-like scene) on the tusks of the elephant. Time passes - and one day Yo-Yo will be the owner of his father's palace in decay. Starting from scratch, he will rebuilt it, and be praised as a great clown, an artist, a film-maker, a millionaire. Yet, something is amiss...
- DirectorJean-Pierre AmérisStarsBenoît PoelvoordeIsabelle CarréLorella CravottaJean-René, owner of a chocolate factory, and Angélique, a talented chocolate maker, are too shy to admit their love for each other. Will they come together thanks to their common passion?
- DirectorMiranda JulyStarsJohn HawkesMiranda JulyMiles ThompsonA lonely shoe salesman and an eccentric performance artist struggle to connect in this unique take on contemporary life.
- DirectorSiegfriedStarsÉlodie BouchezRoschdy ZemGérald ThomassinA shaky camera takes us through Paris: the winding tunnels where the Metro trains run; the glittering neon-lit city streets; on shopping trolleys through stores; up onto abandoned roofs; and into the labyrinth of fear and desire. Meet young Parisienne Louise. She has a "wonderful life" together with her boyfriend and her gang. They live in a self-made sanctuary where life floats along on thefts, drug dealing and odds and ends. But her life changes the day she meets Gaby, an abandoned boy who's learnt to look after himself, and the slacking dandy Remi.
- DirectorColine SerreauStarsDaniel AuteuilFirmine RichardPierre VernierA company president gets framed with a food-poisoning scandal and the only person who can help him is the evening cleaning-woman, who always seems to be at the right place at the right time.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsBarbet SchroederClaudine SoubrierMichèle GirardonA law student regularly visits a Paris bakery to flirt with a brunette employee.
- DirectorHerbert RossStarsBarbra StreisandGeorge SegalRobert KleinA stuffy author enters into an explosive relationship with his neighbor, a foul-mouthed, freewheeling prostitute.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsAdam SandlerEmily WatsonPhilip Seymour HoffmanSocially frustrated Barry Egan calls a phone-sex line to curb his loneliness. Little does he know it will land him in deep trouble and will jeopardize his burgeoning romance with the mysterious Lena.
- DirectorStuart RosenbergStarsJack LemmonCatherine DeneuvePeter LawfordA married man enters his boss' apartment to sign papers for a promotion and finds a party of 200 instead. He doesn't fit in, leaves with a woman, spends all night with her, falls in love with her--and finds out she's his boss' wife.
- DirectorBilly WilderStarsJean ArthurMarlene DietrichJohn LundIn occupied Berlin, an army captain is torn between an ex-Nazi café singer and the U.S. congresswoman investigating her.
- DirectorSøren Kragh-JacobsenStarsIben HjejleAnders W. BerthelsenJesper AsholtKresten's dad dies and he returns to the farm on Lolland to take care of things, including his developmentaly-challenged brother. He employs a hooker as maid. He loses his wife and job due to lies. The maid's kid brother moves in and they're a family of 4.
- DirectorSilvio NarizzanoStarsJames MasonAlan BatesLynn RedgraveA traditional girl (Lynn Redgrave) resists the advances of a swinger (James Mason) who wants her as his mistress in 1960s London.
- DirectorSofia CoppolaStarsBill MurrayScarlett JohanssonGiovanni RibisiA faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsBrigitte LinTakeshi KaneshiroTony Leung Chiu-waiTwo melancholic Hong Kong policemen fall in love: one with a mysterious female underworld figure, the other with a beautiful and ethereal waitress at a late-night restaurant he frequents.
- DirectorSilvio SoldiniStarsLicia MagliettaBruno GanzGiuseppe BattistonAfter being forgotten in a highway café during a bus trip, a housewife decides to start a new life by herself in Venice.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyMaureen O'SullivanFormer detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it.
- DirectorNana DzhordzhadzeStarsNutsa KukhianidzeEvgeniy SidikhinShalva IashviliThe summer adventures of teenaged Sybilla, who falls in love with a middle-aged father while being romanced by his teenaged son.
- DirectorEttore ScolaStarsValeria D'ObiciBernard GiraudeauJean-Louis TrintignantIn the 1860s, Giorgio (Giraudeau), a young Italian soldier, is sent to a remote post, far away from his lover, Clara (Antonelli). He is lodged in the house of the colonel (Girotti). He becames friends with the colonel and the local doctor (Trintignant). Among the inhabitants of the house there is a strange young woman: Fosca (d'Obici) who is both unattractive and mad. However, she has a passion that Giorgio will have to cope with.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsJean DesaillyFrançoise DorléacNelly BenedettiPierre Lachenay is a well-known publisher and lecturer, married with Franca and father of Sabine, around 10. He meets an air hostess, Nicole. They start a love affair, which Pierre is hiding, but he cannot stand staying away from her.