Genre Conventions - Content
One of the elements that exists in the romance film template lies within the plot.
At one point in the narrative, the main couple, of which the film is based on, separates for a number of
reasons: an argument, parents not accepting their relationship, going off to war, moving away, etc.
Their separation does not last, however, for the couple finds their way back to each other. This perfectly
fits the popular saying “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never
was.”
At one point in the narrative, the main couple, of which the film is based on, separates for a number of
reasons: an argument, parents not accepting their relationship, going off to war, moving away, etc.
Their separation does not last, however, for the couple finds their way back to each other. This perfectly
fits the popular saying “If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it’s yours. If it doesn’t, it never
was.”
EX: In Best of Me (2014), high school sweethearts Amanda Collier and Dawson Cole reignite their
unforgotten love after 20 years of not seeing each other.
Occasionally, the stories of love do not always end with the two characters being together forever. It is more about their time together and the story they share, whether their love story ends during the duration of the film or continues until "death do they part" is not what is important.
Another aspect of romance films is the strong emotions infused in the narrative. Sadness, anger, grief,
and other emotions are included in the story to strike the hearts of the audience and invoke emotion and
reactions from the audience.
and other emotions are included in the story to strike the hearts of the audience and invoke emotion and
reactions from the audience.
Genre Conventions - Production Techniques
The mise-en-scene of romance movies usually includes flowers, hearts, and other universal symbols of love.
Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa used and popularized the movement technique of nature can also
be seen in romance movies. Usually, to strengthen the emotion and rawness of a scene, rain and other
forces of nature are incorporated.
be seen in romance movies. Usually, to strengthen the emotion and rawness of a scene, rain and other
forces of nature are incorporated.
EX: This scene from the 2004 romance film The Notebook expresses the intense passion between the
two characters through their apathy towards the heavy rain that soaks them.
How It's Marketed
A romantic film depicts the love story between two characters, or sometimes more than two. Romance
films typically have a target audience of people aged 13-18 and 45+ and typically appeal to females,
who are believed to be able to connect to the characters more easily as they are assumed to be more
emotional. Modern romance movies are starting to incorporate narratives about same-sex relationships
to attract the LGBTQ+ community.
films typically have a target audience of people aged 13-18 and 45+ and typically appeal to females,
who are believed to be able to connect to the characters more easily as they are assumed to be more
emotional. Modern romance movies are starting to incorporate narratives about same-sex relationships
to attract the LGBTQ+ community.
EX: 2013’s Blue is the Warmest Color has a plot based around the love story of AdĂšle Exarchopoulos
and LĂ©a Seydoux.
The cover artwork for romance movies usually depicts the two main characters very close to each
other to invoke emotion from the audience. The characters usually look lustful, loving, or both.
other to invoke emotion from the audience. The characters usually look lustful, loving, or both.
Safe Haven (2013)
The Last Song (2010)
The Notebook (2004)
Nick Cassavetes
The romance film The Notebook may be one of the most well-known romantic films to date,
and it embodies many aspects that make it one. The entire duration of the movie is narrated by
Ryan Gosling’s character, Noah Calhoun, telling his partner Allie Hamilton, played by Rachel
McAdams, their love story. They are both old in age. In Calhoun’s narration of the story, they are
both young adults. Their relationship begins, but he leaves to go off to fight in a war for 7 years.
Hamilton writes him for 3 years but ends up in a relationship with another man. When they both
reconnect later on, in the iconic rain scene that becomes the movie’s cover artwork, their years of
miscommunication are wiped away and they reconcile. The convention of their separation and
reconciliation attempts to spark a lot of emotions within the audience. The end of the movie shows
old Calhoun lying in a hospital bed with old Hamilton, and they die together in each other’s arms.
This part of the narrative of old people in love and dying together, literally in each other’s arms,
encapsulates the convention of infusing strong emotions into the story to fuel the passion and love
of the story.
Call Me by Your Name (2017)
Luca Guadagnino
Call Me by Your Name shares the love story between 17-year-old Elio Perlman and a doctoral student
named Oliver, who works as a summer intern for Elio’s father. Refreshing the generic romance films
depicting a heterosexual relationship, this film gages a more modern audience. This film carries the
convention of separation and reconciliation between the main couple in a different way than The Notebook.
When Oliver leaves as his internship is over, their relationship ends. Towards the end of the movie,
Elio receives a call from Oliver informing him that he got engaged with someone else. Of course,
Elio is silently shattered. He whispers “Elio” multiple times, a sensual and intimate gesture they did
together over the summer and also a poke at the name of the film, and Oliver replies, whispering “Oliver.”
This is a subtle way of implying that their love is not dead. Many scenes are filmed in locations that
embody the love between Elio and Oliver. Beautiful flowers and objects turned sensual are incorporated
throughout the set design. One of the most iconic scenes in the movie is their first kiss, where they lay in
a calm, sunny field. The movement technique of nature plays a role in creating the calming, yet tensely
passionate chemistry between the two as they lay next to each other.
Brokeback Mountain (2005)
Ang Lee
La La Land (2016)
Damien Chazelle
Titanic (1997)
James Cameron
Before Sunrise (1995)
Richard Linklater
The Longest Ride (2015)
George Tillman Jr.
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