What is romance without risk? Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at romance movies that took chances, opening the genre to new possibilities.
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00:00Give me an L. Give me an I. Give me a V. Give me a D. L, I, V, E, L, M.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at romance movies that took chances,
00:11opening the genre to new possibilities.
00:14So?
00:16So?
00:17Are you going to show me something else?
00:20Number 10. It Happened One Night.
00:22This Frank Capra film might not have been the first rom-com,
00:25but it did perfect a roadmap that Hollywood is still following almost 90 years later.
00:30Given the film's impact, it's no wonder Why It Happened One Night swept the Oscars.
00:35You've got a brain, haven't you?
00:36You're not so bad yourself.
00:38You know, we could start a two-people stock company.
00:39Things get tough, we'll pay the small-town auditorium.
00:42The production wasn't without considerable risk, though,
00:44this genre being largely untested in 1934.
00:48Few could have realized they were making a classic,
00:50especially leading lady Claudette Colbert,
00:52who thought it would be, quote,
00:54the worst picture in the world upon wrapping.
00:56Stop a car and I won't use my thumb.
00:59What are you going to do?
01:01It's a system all my own.
01:03Through a heartfelt script, sharp direction, and genuine chemistry between the leads,
01:08the crew turned in something that was not only charming, but expectedly revolutionary.
01:13Capra attributed the film's success to, quote,
01:15being in the right place at the right time.
01:18Why didn't you take off all your clothes? You're gonna stop 40 cars.
01:21Oh, I'll remember that, but we need 40 cars.
01:24Number 9. Brokeback Mountain
01:26There's nobody business but ours.
01:30You know I ain't queer.
01:33Me neither.
01:34Even with the rise of new queer cinema in the 90s,
01:37LGBTQIA plus relationships were rarely explored beyond independent films.
01:41Whenever the subject arose in mainstream pictures,
01:44it was usually played for laughs.
01:46Brokeback Mountain marked a turning point with a previously Oscar-nominated director,
01:50an all-star cast, and a tragic love story that this crew was committed to doing justice.
01:55I swear to God, I didn't know he was going to get into this again.
02:02Oh, yes, I did. I redlined it all the way. I couldn't get here fast enough.
02:05In addition to igniting controversy among the far right,
02:08the film was a financial gamble with no guarantees that people
02:12outside of the LGBTQIA plus community would show up.
02:15Despite being challenged in parts of the world and inexplicably not winning Best Picture,
02:20Brokeback Mountain grossed more than 10 times its budget,
02:23showing that queer cinema is universal.
02:25The same can be said about love.
02:27Sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it.
02:30Number 8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
02:34Baby, what's going on?
02:35I don't know. I don't know. I'm lost. I'm scared. I feel like I'm disappearing.
02:40Disappearing?
02:41My skin's coming off. I'm getting old. Nothing makes any sense.
02:44When Charlie Kaufman's involved, risks are gonna be taken.
02:48Given Kaufman's track record as a storyteller, they might not be huge risks per se.
02:53Even so, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind took a big swing
02:56with a complicated plot about erasing memories.
02:59At the film's core was a relatable romance that kept the story grounded,
03:03even as the walls of sanity close in on Jim Carrey's Joel
03:06while he attempts to preserve the memory of Kate Winslet's Clementine.
03:09The eraser guys are coming here, so what if you take me somewhere else?
03:13Somewhere where I don't belong. And we hide there till morning.
03:17The film is full of unforgettable imagery, but for anyone who's ever experienced love
03:22and heartbreak, it's the emotions you'll remember above all else.
03:25The scenario may be fantastical, yet Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
03:29feels more honest than most traditional romances.
03:32This is it, Joel. It's gonna be gone soon.
03:39I know.
03:42What do we do?
03:44Enjoy it.
03:47Number 7. Before Trilogy.
03:49Richard Linklater has a gift for making seemingly simple movies
03:52that are more ambitious than anticipated.
03:54All I know is I have to catch an Austrian Airlines flight tomorrow morning at 9 30
03:59and I don't really have enough money for a hotel, so I was just gonna walk around
04:02and it'd be a lot more fun if you came with me.
04:04Before Sunrise was experiential for 1995, being light on plot,
04:08yet overflowing with personality thanks to the natural chemistry
04:12between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, it was a novel approach to storytelling.
04:16What proved even more unique was revisiting Jesse and Celine's relationship after nine years,
04:21and, again, another nine years later.
04:24Every year I just seem to get a little bit more humbled and more overwhelmed
04:27about all the things I'm never gonna know or understand.
04:30That's what I keep telling you, you know nothing.
04:31I know, and now I'm coming around.
04:33Whether they end happily or tragically, most cinematic romances remain self-contained.
04:38Linklater's one-of-a-kind trilogy demonstrates how life goes on,
04:42and more significantly, how people mature with the passage of time.
04:45Throughout this 18-year journey, we come to know Jesse and Celine intimately,
04:49as if they're real people we want to catch up with every decade or so.
04:53Do you think it could be tonight that you're still talking about in your 80s?
04:58Well, it must have been one hell of a night we're about to have.
05:04Number 6. Claudine
05:17At a time when African-American-led films were primarily restricted to
05:20blaxploitation, Claudine went in a more authentic direction,
05:24painting a portrait of life and love.
05:26Diane Carroll plays the titular Claudine,
05:28a single mother struggling to provide for her six children.
05:31Upon meeting a garbage collector named Rupert, played by James Earl Jones,
05:35Claudine finds happiness, yet faces several new challenges.
05:39Bobby, you're going away.
05:40You just got hired.
05:42Are you going out with him?
05:43Where's he taking you?
05:44All right, all right, cool it, cool it.
05:47The film explores welfare, failed marriages, child support, unemployment,
05:51and a system designed to make certain people fail no matter what they do.
05:55Claudine doesn't wrap itself up in the tidiest of packages,
05:58but it reminds audiences that if loved ones stick together and support each other
06:02through the harsh realities of life, hope will always be waiting around the corner.
06:06It looked like you'd been sucking on vinegar.
06:10But there's one thing you better know, and that is I love all of y'all.
06:16Number 5. There's Something About Mary
06:19During a decade where few comedies ventured beyond PG-13 boundaries,
06:23There's Something About Mary fully committed to achieving an R rating.
06:26This wasn't the only risk that the Farrelly brothers took.
06:29But you didn't do anything else, right?
06:32What?
06:33I mean, you didn't...
06:37No, no, no, no, god, I couldn't live with myself.
06:41Gross-out comedies were known for making people laugh, gasp, and cringe,
06:45which this film more than succeeded in doing.
06:47What caught viewers off guard was the movie's heart.
06:50You know, I think I'm just gonna quit while I'm ahead.
06:53You're not that far ahead, Ted.
06:57In a story full of politically incorrect humor and bodily fluids,
07:01the audience shouldn't get invested in the romance.
07:03For all of its messed-up moments, though,
07:05the central love story managed to be sincere.
07:08It was a different kind of date movie that mutually appealed
07:10to seemingly opposite demographics.
07:13It goes to show that you can't spell immaturity without maturity.
07:17I just want you to be happy, Mary.
07:23But I'd be happiest with you.
07:25Number four.
07:26Harold & Maude.
07:27There are age differences, and then there's Harold & Maude.
07:30The age gap of nearly 60 years isn't even the most uncomfortable aspect
07:34of this dark comedy, which might be why the reception was initially mixed.
07:38Harold, everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves.
07:43You can't let the world judge you too much.
07:45Harold & Maude is now considered a quintessential 70s movie,
07:48with more people realizing why it works.
07:51As different as the titular outcasts are,
07:53it's hard to deny that they're anything less than soulmates.
07:56Harold loves Maude, and Maude loves Harold.
08:06Some might say that they were born too far apart,
08:09although it's serendipitous that the two met when they did.
08:12Harold may still be obsessed with death by the end,
08:14but having known the free-spirited Maude, his life will never be the same.
08:18Whether you're 19 or 79, love can be eternally rebellious.
08:23Reach out, take a jump, get hurt even, but play as well as you can.
08:32Go team, go!
08:34Number three, The Graduate.
08:36Hello.
08:38Hello.
08:39Well, I want you to keep your wits about you tonight.
08:42You never know what tricks Ben picked up back there in the east.
08:46Speaking of rebellion, The Graduate is a definitive counterculture movie
08:49with another age gap at the center.
08:51In the most complicated of love triangles,
08:54Benjamin finds himself between the much older Mrs. Robinson
08:57and her daughter Elaine.
08:58Oh no.
08:59Elaine.
09:01Oh my god.
09:02Please.
09:04Get out of here.
09:05Don't cry.
09:07Get out!
09:08Get out!
09:09The story goes to risqué places,
09:11coinciding with the end of Hollywood's Golden Age
09:13and the beginning of New Hollywood.
09:14The biggest risk comes in the final scene,
09:17which flips the supposed happy ending on its head
09:19as two characters share a look of uncertainty
09:21with reality sinking in.
09:23This unconventional ending signified
09:25that audiences were ready for more layered storytelling
09:27where the message isn't spelled out,
09:29true love doesn't solve everything,
09:31and what seems like a grand gesture
09:33can actually be the biggest mistake of one's life.
09:36I don't want you to go anywhere.
09:40I tell you I have a definite plan.
09:42Number two, Annie Hall.
09:44We're all familiar with the formula of boy meets girl,
09:47boy loses girl, boy finds girl again.
09:50Annie Hall adds several other steps,
09:52with the central relationship ultimately leaving us on a bittersweet note.
09:55We're friends.
09:57I want to remain friends.
10:00Okay.
10:02Check please.
10:03This isn't the only way that the film plays
10:05with the usual conventions of romantic comedies.
10:07Telling parts of the story out of order,
10:09experimenting with different mediums like animation,
10:12and regularly breaking the fourth wall,
10:14there wasn't another rom-com quite like Annie Hall upon release.
10:18Why not?
10:18You're always leaning on me to improve myself.
10:21You're just upset.
10:22You must be getting your period.
10:23I don't get a period.
10:25I'm a cartoon character.
10:26Can't I be upset once in a while?
10:28It prompted a rethinking of the genre
10:29while still encompassing all of the essential elements.
10:32Outside of relationships, the film is about nostalgia
10:35and the people who simultaneously represent a simpler time
10:38and the most confusing time of a person's life.
10:41Totally irrational and crazy and absurd.
10:45But I guess we keep going through it because most of us need the eggs.
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11:08Number 1.
11:09Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
11:10Two relationships are at the heart of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.
11:13One is between John and Joey, an interracial couple.
11:16The other is between Joey's parents, Matt and Christina.
11:19The film is just as much about the latter two,
11:22who have reservations about their daughter's fiancé.
11:24Well, I don't think I'm going to faint.
11:30But I'll sit down anyway.
11:32Aside from the age difference and the fact they haven't known each other long,
11:36skin color is the main concern.
11:38While Matt and Christina consider themselves open-minded,
11:41they fear the struggles this union will inevitably bring.
11:44There is nothing I wouldn't do to try to keep her as happy as she was the day I met her.
11:48But it seems to me, without your approval, we will make no sense at all.
11:53That is why I'm asking for the clearest possible statement of what your attitude is going to be.
11:59During the film's production, interracial marriage was still on the verge of being
12:03legalized in every U.S. state.
12:05This made for a landmark film with the inclusion of comedy and romance,
12:08emphasizing that race relations were moving in the right direction.
12:12There would be only one thing worse.
12:15And that would be if, knowing what you two are,
12:20knowing what you two have, and knowing what you two feel, you didn't get married.
12:27Which romance movie do you think took the biggest risk?
12:29Let us know in the comments.
12:31But if you want true love, then this is it.
12:35This is real life.
12:36It's not perfect, but it's real.
12:38Do you agree with our picks?
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