Category Archives: a night at the movies

Ten Love Scenes that Make Your Heart Melt

Don’t you just love a good love scene?

I’m not talking about sex scenes, although those are represented — I’m talking LOVE scenes. Scenes where that most frightening, exciting of emotions is expressed, and you just have to hold your breath for a moment, and wait and pray and hope for the feeling to be returned in kind. They can be from Books, movies, TV, heck, even commercials. It was REALLY hard to narrow this list down to ten. Be advised: Here be spoilers, as well.

1. Anne Elliot receives a letter. 

Persuasion is the most romantic of Jane Austen’s works, and Anne Elliot, her most romantic character. (Austen’s description of Anne: “She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older: the natural sequence of an unnatural beginning.”) 

Captain Wentworth came back into Anne Elliot’s life after a decade, reminding her of the ‘what if’s of the choices of her youth. Throughout the book, we see them come closer and move away from each other, like a wave upon the shore. Finally, when he overhears her defending women’s constancy against the forces of time, he is compelled to speak. But can’t. Because they are in a room full of people. So he takes a piece of paper, and writes her a letter, saying that his poor male heart had been constant to her. When she reads it… oh, when she reads it… 

2. Jordan Catalano takes Angela Chase’s hand in the hallway. (My So-Called Life “Self-Esteem”) 

Secretly making out in the boiler room is all hot and sexy, but there comes a where a teenage girl realizes she has to be acknowledged by the guy outside of said boiler room. Where he has to declare to the world – or the entire high school – that she is with him. Angela Chase had given up on Jordan Catalano. but after a moment of realization in English class (which, lets remember, was not Mr. Catalano’s best subject) Jordan comes up to Angela in the hallway, and takes her hand. Oh, just watch the clip. (Note: this scene is brought to you by my teenage wardrobe of plaid, plaid, and more plaid.) 

3. Anthony Stewart-Head meets his neighbor over coffee. 

Love scenes need not be confined to straight fiction. As Don Draper tells us, some of the best story telling is done in advertising. And these turn-of-the-90s Nescafe ads (the American version — and yes they did air over here – were called Taster’s Choice) do it right. They build on each other, pulling a love story out of a freaking-instant coffee. Before Tony Head was Giles, he was the coffee starved neighbor of beautiful Sharon Maughan, and each commercial was like an episode, or a chapter, and each time the sexual chemistry built, and built, until finally… they kiss. And believe it or not, that kiss was front-page news in England. 

4. Viola and Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet, telling the story of their lives. 

One of my favorite romantic movies does not have a happy ending. Shakespeare in Love gives the drama of Romeo and Juliet a source, making it the on-stage version of the romance between Shakespeare himself and a young noblewoman named Viola. She loves the theater, girls aren’t allowed to act on stage, contrived events throw them both on stage, during the premiere performance of Romeo and Juliet.  But the thrill of being onstage, playing these fantastic parts is undercut by the sorrow that they know this is the last time they will be allowed to see each other. It’s painful and beautiful and wonderful to watch. 

5. Heath Ledger finds his old shirt. 

In Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal play Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, cowboys who become lovers, but keep it secret from their families and society for the whole of their lives. Once Jack has died, Ennis visits with Jack’s parents, and he breaks down when he finds his old shirt hanging inside one of Jack’s old shirts, a memento from the start of their relationship. 

6. Princess Ann loves Rome 

Audrey Hepburn’s first film, and she gets to play a princess. A terribly sheltered one, who, on a diplomatic tour of Europe, decides to skip out on her responsibilities for a while and go on a Roman Holiday. And hey, if you met Gregory Peck, wouldn’t you take time off from your real life too? 

But come the end, she has to go back to being a princess, but she breaks diplomatic protocol and declares that out of all the places she visited, Rome was her favorite. 

7. Pacey remembers everything. 

One of the better inventions of the mid-90s, was Dawson’s Creek‘s Pacey Witter (Joshua Jackson). And one of the better things they did with the character (lest we forget that awful season one Sleeping-with-the-Teacher storyline which is just creepy now) is they made him fall for Joey Potter (Mrs. Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes). But alas – they couldn’t be together, because according to Dawson, he and Joey were Meant To Be. (Hey, its his show…) But the chemistry between Pacey and Joey spoke otherwise. Joey was never less annoying and Pacey was never more heart-stopping than when they were close but couldn’t be more, as typified in this scene at the Anti-Prom, where Pacey told Joey, “I remember everything”. 

8. Gen and Carmen find themselves lying on the grass. 

Bel Canto by Ann Patchett is not, from the outside, a romantic novel. It is about a formal party in a South American country that is taken hostage by guerrilla fighters. For six months. Gen, the translator for a Japanese ambassador, and Carmen, the lone young woman amongst the guerrilla fighters, become friends, as she wishes for him to teach her to read. They fall in love so easily. Told mostly from Gen’s perspective, and as if a memory, one night, they find themselves in the back yard, steps away from the road and freedom. They could run away from this horrible situation… but they stay. They spend the evening on the grass… and in each other’s arms. 

9. Jim kisses Pam! Jim kisses Pam! (The Office, “Casino Night”) 

It seems forever ago, but there was a time when Jim wasn’t with Pam. In fact, Pam was with Roy. And Jim’s love went unrequited and unnoticed by Pam — until he got up the gumption to tell her how he felt in a terribly heartbreaking scene, as he’s shot down with the most painful, “I… can’t” from Pam. (Seriously, John Krasinski cries, thus cementing my crush upon him.) And that’s the scene that would have made this list if Jim hadn’t, at the very end of the episode, found Pam alone in the office, talking on the phone, and wordlessly come up to her and kissed her. AND THEN LEFT US HANGING FOR THE WHOLE SUMMER. 

10. Rhett, Scarlett, and the Staircase 

In Gone with the Wind, this is the moment that Rhett finally, finally loses control, and gives into his impulses regarding Scarlett. And the morning after, Scarlett doesn’t seem to mind. (FYI, the movie is pretty faithful to the book in this scene.)

Did I tell you Kate was fab or WHAT?! Ok. What did she miss? Name the best love scene (book, tv, commercial or film) in comments for a chance to win a signed copy of Kate’s The Summer of You (which is totally awesome)! We’ll choose a winner on Wednesday…and don’t forget to leave your email address so we can contact you if you win!