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The Best Romance Movies of All Time

From Casablanca to In the Mood for Love: the screen romance canon ranked by our composite score across 20+ lists, awards and polls.

The love story is cinema's most reliable engine, and its canon is unusually international: Borzage and McCarey built the Hollywood template, Casablanca fused it with wartime sacrifice, David Lean made intimacy epic, and the modern masterpieces belong as much to Wong Kar-wai's Hong Kong and Ang Lee's borderless melodramas as to Hollywood. The genre's test is simple and merciless — whether an audience believes two people need each other — which is why its best films age better than almost any others.

Annie Hall (1977) leads with a composite score of 5.55. Top 100 of 926 films in our library.

Masters of the genre

  1. 1
    Annie Hall1977 · Woody Allen · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    5.55

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1977 · BAFTA Best Film winner 1978 · Siskel's annual top 10 1977 #1

  2. 2
    Casablanca1942 · Michael Curtiz · United States · romance, war, drama
    5.29

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1943 · AFI 100 (2007) #3 · AFI 100 (1998) #2

  3. 3
    Vertigo1958 · Alfred Hitchcock · United States · mystery, thriller, drama
    5.16

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #2 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #6 · AFI 100 (2007) #9

  4. 4
    In the Mood for Love2000 · Wong Kar-wai · Hong Kong, China / France / Thailand · romance, drama
    5.13

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #5 · Rolling Stone 100 Best of the 21st Century #2 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #9

  5. 5
    The Piano1993 · Jane Campion · France / Australia / New Zealand · drama, romance
    4.99

    Palme d'Or winner 1993 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1994 #1 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #50

  6. 6
    Mulholland Drive2001 · David Lynch · United States · mystery, thriller, crime
    4.61

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2001 #1 · Film Comment year-end poll 2001 #1 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #8

  7. 7
    The Apartment1960 · Billy Wilder · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    4.38

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1960 · BAFTA Best Film winner 1961 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #54

  8. 8
    Singin' in the Rain1952 · Gene Kelly, Stanley Donen · United States · comedy, romance, musical
    4.30

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #10 · AFI 100 (2007) #5 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #52

  9. 9
    Brief Encounter1945 · David Lean · United Kingdom · romance, drama
    4.30

    Palme d'Or winner 1946 · BFI Top 100 British films #2 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1948 #3

  10. 10
    The Graduate1967 · Mike Nichols · United States · comedy, drama, romance
    3.92

    BAFTA Best Film winner 1969 · AFI 100 (1998) #7 · AFI 100 (2007) #17

  11. 11
    Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans1927 · F. W. Murnau · United States · drama, silent, romance
    3.77

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1928 #1 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #11 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #33

  12. 12
    Shakespeare in Love1998 · John Madden · United Kingdom / United States · comedy, romance, drama
    3.77

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1998 · BAFTA Best Film winner 1999 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1999 #1

  13. 13
    Titanic1997 · James Cameron · United States · drama, romance
    3.72

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1997 · Kehr's annual top 10 1997 #1 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1998 #4

  14. 14
    Gone with the Wind1939 · Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood · United States · romance, drama, war
    3.68

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1939 · AFI 100 (2007) #6 · AFI 100 (1998) #4

  15. 15
    It's a Wonderful Life1946 · Frank Capra · United States · comedy, romance, fantasy
    3.52

    AFI 100 (2007) #20 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1946 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #133

  16. 16
    Brokeback Mountain2005 · Ang Lee · United States · romance, drama
    3.49

    BAFTA Best Film winner 2006 · Venice Golden Lion winner 2005 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2005

  17. 17
    Some Like It Hot1959 · Billy Wilder · United States · comedy, romance, crime
    3.47

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #38 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #62 · AFI 100 (2007) #22

  18. 18
    Forrest Gump1994 · Robert Zemeckis · United States · comedy, drama, romance
    3.45

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1994 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1995 #4 · AFI 100 (2007) #76

  19. 19
    The Red Shoes1948 · Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell · United Kingdom · romance, drama, musical
    3.41

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #67 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #72 · BFI Top 100 British films #9

  20. 20
    City Lights1931 · Charlie Chaplin · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    3.40

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #36 · AFI 100 (2007) #11 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #52

  21. 21
    Network1976 · Sidney Lumet · United States · comedy, drama, romance
    3.39

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1977 #2 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1976 · AFI 100 (2007) #64

  22. 22
    Farewell My Concubine1993 · Chen Kaige · China · drama, romance
    3.39

    Palme d'Or winner 1993 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1994 #2 · TIME All-TIME 100

  23. 23
    The English Patient1996 · Anthony Minghella · United Kingdom / United States · romance, war, drama
    3.38

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1996 · BAFTA Best Film winner 1997 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1997 #5

  24. 24
    It Happened One Night1934 · Frank Capra · United States · comedy, romance
    3.27

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1934 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1934 #5 · AFI 100 (2007) #46

  25. 25
    West Side Story1961 · Robert Wise, Jerome Robbins · United States · musical, romance, drama
    3.20

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1961 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1961 #4 · AFI 100 (2007) #51

  26. 26
    Blue Velvet1986 · David Lynch · United States · mystery, thriller, drama
    3.13

    Hoberman's annual top 10 1986 #1 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #72 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #85

  27. 27
    Sense and Sensibility1995 · Ang Lee · United Kingdom / United States · drama, romance, comedy
    3.08

    BAFTA Best Film winner 1996 · Berlin Golden Bear winner 1996 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1995

  28. 28
    The Sound of Music1965 · Robert Wise · United States · musical, biography, drama
    3.02

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1965 · AFI 100 (2007) #40 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1965 #9

  29. 29
    Modern Times1936 · Charlie Chaplin · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    2.97

    Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #72 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #78 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1938 #4

  30. 30
    Lost in Translation2003 · Sofia Coppola · United States / Japan · comedy, romance, drama
    2.95

    Film Comment year-end poll 2003 #1 · Sarris's annual top 10 2003 #1 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2003

  31. 31
    Atlantic City1980 · Louis Malle · Canada / United States / France · romance, drama, crime
    2.92

    Venice Golden Lion winner 1980 · Sarris's annual top 10 1981 #1 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1981

  32. 32
    Going My Way1944 · Leo McCarey · United States · comedy, drama, romance
    2.89

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1944 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1946 #1 · National Film Registry (inducted 2004)

  33. 33
    The Green Ray1986 · Éric Rohmer · France · romance, drama
    2.88

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1986 #1 · Venice Golden Lion winner 1986 · Sarris's annual top 10 1986 #1

  34. 34
    Red Desert1964 · Michelangelo Antonioni · France / Italy · drama, romance
    2.83

    Venice Golden Lion winner 1964 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #169 · Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1964 #6

  35. 35
    A Room with a View1986 · James Ivory · United Kingdom · comedy, romance, drama
    2.81

    BAFTA Best Film winner 1987 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1986 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1987 #6

  36. 36
    The Shape of Water2017 · Guillermo del Toro · United States / Mexico · thriller, fantasy, drama
    2.77

    Oscar Best Picture winner 2017 · Venice Golden Lion winner 2017 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2018 #3

  37. 37
    Manhattan1979 · Woody Allen · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    2.77

    BAFTA Best Film winner 1980 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1980 #5 · Sarris's annual top 10 1979 #2

  38. 38
    My Fair Lady1964 · George Cukor · United States · musical, romance, drama
    2.76

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1964 · BAFTA Best Film winner 1966 · AFI 100 (1998) #91

  39. 39
    Tootsie1982 · Sydney Pollack · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    2.74

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1982 · AFI 100 (2007) #69 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1983 #8

  40. 40
    Terms of Endearment1983 · James L. Brooks · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    2.73

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1983 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1984 #4 · Ebert's annual top 10 1983 #2

  41. 41
    Marty1955 · Delbert Mann · United States · drama, romance
    2.73

    Palme d'Or winner 1955 · Oscar Best Picture winner 1955 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1955 #7

  42. 42
    Breaking the Waves1996 · Lars von Trier · Denmark / Sweden / France · drama, romance
    2.69

    Cannes Grand Prix winner 1996 · Kehr's annual top 10 1996 #1 · Ebert's annual top 10 1996 #2

  43. 43
    Slumdog Millionaire2008 · Danny Boyle, Loveleen Tandan · United Kingdom · romance, drama, crime
    2.65

    Oscar Best Picture winner 2008 · BAFTA Best Film winner 2009 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2008

  44. 44
    Amélie2001 · Jean-Pierre Jeunet · France / Germany · comedy, romance, drama
    2.58

    César Best Film winner 2002 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2001 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2001 #6

  45. 45
    The Gold Rush1925 · Charlie Chaplin · United States · silent, comedy, romance
    2.55

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1926 #1 · AFI 100 (2007) #58 · AFI 100 (1998) #74

  46. 46
    Days of Heaven1978 · Terrence Malick · United States · drama, romance
    2.45

    Kehr's annual top 10 1978 #1 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #152 · Ebert's annual top 10 1978 #2

  47. 47
    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon2000 · Ang Lee · United States / Taiwan, China / Hong Kong, China · romance, fantasy, action
    2.44

    TIFF People's Choice winner 2000 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2000 · Film Comment year-end poll 2000 #6

  48. 48
    Blue Is the Warmest Colour2013 · Abdellatif Kechiche · France / Belgium / Spain · drama, romance
    2.43

    Palme d'Or winner 2013 · Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2013 #3 · Film Comment year-end poll 2013 #12

  49. 49
    The Rules of the Game1939 · Jean Renoir · France · drama, romance
    2.38

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #13 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #38 · Scorsese's 39 essential foreign films

  50. 50
    Miss Julie1951 · Alf Sjöberg · Sweden · drama, romance
    2.37

    Palme d'Or winner 1951 · Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1951 #6 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1952 #6

  51. 51
    Before Sunset2004 · Richard Linklater · United States · romance, drama
    2.36

    Film Comment year-end poll 2004 #3 · Sarris's annual top 10 2004 #1 · Rolling Stone 100 Best of the 21st Century #26

  52. 52
    The Artist2011 · Michel Hazanavicius · France / Belgium · comedy, romance, drama
    2.35

    Oscar Best Picture winner 2011 · BAFTA Best Film winner 2012 · César Best Film winner 2012

  53. 53
    Rebecca1940 · Alfred Hitchcock · United States · mystery, drama, romance
    2.35

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1940 · National Film Registry (inducted 2018) · Empire 500 (2008) #318

  54. 54
    The Purple Rose of Cairo1985 · Woody Allen · United States · comedy, romance, fantasy
    2.32

    BAFTA Best Film winner 1986 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1986 #2 · TIME All-TIME 100

  55. 55
    Hiroshima mon amour1959 · Alain Resnais · France / Japan · drama, romance
    2.31

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1959 #2 · Sarris's annual top 10 1960 #1 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #169

  56. 56
    La La Land2016 · Damien Chazelle · United States · romance, comedy, drama
    2.29

    BAFTA Best Film winner 2017 · TIFF People's Choice winner 2016 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2016

  57. 57
    The Cranes Are Flying1957 · Mikhail Kalatozov · Soviet Union · romance, drama, war
    2.24

    Palme d'Or winner 1958 · Letterboxd Top 250 #31 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

  58. 58
    Sideways2004 · Alexander Payne · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    2.23

    Film Comment year-end poll 2004 #1 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2004 · Sarris's annual top 10 2004 #2

  59. 59
    Shane1953 · George Stevens · United States · western, romance, drama
    2.22

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1953 · AFI 100 (2007) #45 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1953 #7

  60. 60
    The Umbrellas of Cherbourg1964 · Jacques Demy · France / West Germany · musical, romance, drama
    2.21

    Palme d'Or winner 1964 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #122 · Criterion Collection spine #716

  61. 61
    Grand Hotel1932 · Edmund Goulding · United States · drama, romance
    2.19

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1931 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1933 #9 · National Film Registry (inducted 2007)

  62. 62
    Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore1974 · Martin Scorsese · United States · romance, drama, comedy
    2.19

    BAFTA Best Film winner 1976 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1975 #3 · Ebert's annual top 10 1975 #3

  63. 63
    Children of Paradise1945 · Marcel Carné · France · romance, drama
    2.19

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1952 #3 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #136 · TIME All-TIME 100

  64. 64
    Black Orpheus1959 · Marcel Camus · France / Brazil / Italy · fantasy, musical, romance
    2.18

    Palme d'Or winner 1959 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1960 #6 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

  65. 65
    Ali: Fear Eats the Soul1974 · Rainer Werner Fassbinder · Germany · drama, romance
    2.17

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #52 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #52 · Kehr's annual top 10 1974 #2

  66. 66
    From Here to Eternity1953 · Fred Zinnemann · United States · romance, war, drama
    2.15

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1953 · AFI 100 (1998) #52 · National Film Registry (inducted 2002)

  67. 67
    Claire's Knee1970 · Éric Rohmer · France · drama, romance, comedy
    2.14

    San Sebastián Golden Shell winner 1971 · Siskel's annual top 10 1971 #1 · Sarris's annual top 10 1971 #2

  68. 68
    Atonement2007 · Joe Wright · United Kingdom / France · drama, war, romance
    2.14

    BAFTA Best Film winner 2008 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2007 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2008 #9

  69. 69
    Pierrot le Fou1965 · Jean-Luc Godard · France / Italy · romance, drama, comedy
    2.13

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1965 #1 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #85 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1967 #5

  70. 70
    Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind2004 · Michel Gondry · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    2.13

    Film Comment year-end poll 2004 #2 · Sight & Sound 2022 directors' poll #93 · Rolling Stone 100 Best of the 21st Century #17

  71. 71
    The River1951 · Jean Renoir · United States / France · drama, romance
    2.12

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1951 #1 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1952 #4 · Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #185

  72. 72
    Wings1927 · William A. Wellman, Harry d'Abbadie d'Arrast · United States · war, romance, drama
    2.11

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1928 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1928 #5 · National Film Registry (inducted 1997)

  73. 73
    Hannah and Her Sisters1986 · Woody Allen · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    2.11

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1987 #3 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1986 · Sarris's annual top 10 1986 #2

  74. 74
    Four Weddings and a Funeral1994 · Mike Newell · United Kingdom · comedy, romance, drama
    2.10

    BAFTA Best Film winner 1995 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1994 · BFI Top 100 British films #23

  75. 75
    The Crying Game1992 · Neil Jordan · United Kingdom / Japan / Ireland · drama, romance, thriller
    2.10

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1992 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1993 #4 · BFI Top 100 British films #26

  76. 76
    Bande à part1964 · Jean-Luc Godard · France · crime, romance, drama
    2.05

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1964 #1 · TIME All-TIME 100 · Scorsese's 39 essential foreign films

  77. 77
    A Man and a Woman1966 · Claude Lelouch · France · drama, romance
    2.05

    Palme d'Or winner 1966 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1966 #5 · Criterion Collection spine #1304

  78. 78
    American Graffiti1973 · George Lucas · United States · comedy, romance, drama
    2.03

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1973 · AFI 100 (2007) #62 · AFI 100 (1998) #77

  79. 79
    Jules and Jim1962 · François Truffaut · France · romance, drama
    2.01

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 1962 #2 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1964 #2 · Empire 500 (2008) #338

  80. 80
    Mrs. Miniver1942 · William Wyler · United States · war, drama, romance
    2.00

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1942 · National Film Registry (inducted 2009) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

  81. 81
    Gigi1958 · Vincente Minnelli, Charles Walters · United States · comedy, romance, musical
    2.00

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1958 · National Film Registry (inducted 1991) · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

  82. 82
    Portrait of a Lady on Fire2019 · Céline Sciamma · France · drama, romance
    2.00

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #30 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2020 #3 · Letterboxd Top 250 #49

  83. 83
    Y tu mamá también2001 · Alfonso Cuarón · Mexico · drama, comedy, romance
    1.99

    Rolling Stone 100 Best of the 21st Century #5 · Film Comment year-end poll 2002 #3 · Ebert's annual top 10 2002 #6

  84. 84
    Lacombe, Lucien1974 · Louis Malle · France / Italy · drama, war, romance
    1.99

    BAFTA Best Film winner 1975 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1975 #7 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

  85. 85
    The Grand Budapest Hotel2014 · Wes Anderson · United States / Germany · comedy, drama, adventure
    1.96

    Film Comment year-end poll 2014 #3 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2014 · Rolling Stone 100 Best of the 21st Century #25

  86. 86
    You Can't Take It With You1938 · Frank Capra · United States · comedy, romance
    1.93

    Oscar Best Picture winner 1938 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1939 #4

  87. 87
    Talk to Her2002 · Pedro Almodóvar · Spain · drama, romance
    1.93

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2003 #2 · Sarris's annual top 10 2002 #1 · Film Comment year-end poll 2002 #4

  88. 88
    The Go-Between1971 · Joseph Losey · United Kingdom · romance, drama
    1.92

    Palme d'Or winner 1971 · BFI Top 100 British films #57 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

  89. 89
    Phantom Thread2017 · Paul Thomas Anderson · United States / United Kingdom · drama, romance
    1.92

    Cahiers du Cinéma annual top 10 2018 #3 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 2017 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2018 #4

  90. 90
    Chungking Express1994 · Wong Kar-wai · Hong Kong, China · comedy, drama, romance
    1.92

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #88 · Hoberman's annual top 10 1994 #2 · TIME All-TIME 100

  91. 91
    The Wind That Shakes the Barley2006 · Ken Loach · United Kingdom / Ireland / Germany · drama, war, romance
    1.89

    Palme d'Or winner 2006 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2006 #5

  92. 92
    Carol2015 · Todd Haynes · United Kingdom / United States · romance, drama
    1.88

    Film Comment year-end poll 2015 #1 · Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 2016 #2 · Rolling Stone 100 Best of the 21st Century #14

  93. 93
    Cyrano de Bergerac1990 · Jean-Paul Rappeneau · France · romance, drama, comedy
    1.86

    César Best Film winner 1991 · TIFF People's Choice winner 1990 · Empire 500 (2008) #143

  94. 94
    Suspicion1941 · Alfred Hitchcock · United States · mystery, romance, thriller
    1.84

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1947 #1 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1941 · NYT Best 1,000 Movies

  95. 95
    The Philadelphia Story1940 · George Cukor · United States · comedy, romance
    1.82

    Oscar Best Picture nominee 1940 · AFI 100 (2007) #44 · AFI 100 (1998) #51

  96. 96
    The Best Intentions1992 · Bille August · Sweden · drama, romance
    1.82

    Palme d'Or winner 1992 · Sarris's annual top 10 1992 #2

  97. 97
    Notorious1946 · Alfred Hitchcock · United States · thriller, film-noir, drama
    1.81

    Sight & Sound 2022 critics' poll #133 · TIME All-TIME 100 · National Film Registry (inducted 2006)

  98. 98
    East of Eden1955 · Elia Kazan · United States · drama, romance
    1.80

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1955 #1 · BAFTA Best Film nominee 1956 · National Film Registry (inducted 2016)

  99. 99
    Seventh Heaven1927 · Frank Borzage · United States · drama, silent, romance
    1.79

    Kinema Junpo Best Ten (International) 1927 #1 · Oscar Best Picture nominee 1928 · National Film Registry (inducted 1995)

  100. 100
    Far from Heaven2002 · Todd Haynes · United States · romance, drama
    1.77

    Film Comment year-end poll 2002 #1 · Ebert's annual top 10 2002 #4 · Hoberman's annual top 10 2002 #5

The test a love story faces is simpler and crueler than any other genre's: do you believe these two people need each other? Nothing else — no effects budget, no plot machinery — can fake that, which is why the best romance movies age better than almost anything else the medium makes. The canon ranked above is also unusually international; the American studios may have industrialised the love story, but its modern masterpieces belong as much to Hong Kong and to Ang Lee's borderless melodramas as to Hollywood.

What the love story changed

Romance is cinema's most reliable engine, and its fortunes have moved in long cycles: the genre was a substantial part of production from the 1940s into the early 1960s, fell away, recovered late in the century, and peaked in the early 2000s before thinning out again. What never thinned is its range: unrequited, forbidden, obsessive, sacrificial and tragic love all count among the genre's standing themes — a far wider brief than the meet-cute — and this page reflects that breadth, running from the wartime renunciation of Casablanca (1942) to the corridor glances of In the Mood for Love (2000). To my eye the durability is no mystery: spectacle dates, longing doesn't.

The key figures

Michael Curtiz fused the love story with wartime sacrifice and gave the genre its most quotable monument; David Lean made ordinary intimacy feel epic in Brief Encounter (1945); Billy Wilder laced it with acid in The Apartment (1960). The modern canon is borderless: Wong Kar-wai distilled romance to pure atmosphere, Jane Campion gave desire physical weight in The Piano (1993), and Ang Lee places four films on this page — Sense and Sensibility (1995), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Lust, Caution (2007) — a genre unto himself. Woody Allen matches that count, led by the film that tops the whole list.

How to read our list

Membership here comes from the data pipeline, not from an editor's mood: a film appears because its genre tags — canonical buckets mapped from Wikidata's genre statements — include romance, and since a film can carry several genres at once, comedies, thrillers and musicals sit alongside the weepies. The order is our composite score across 20+ authoritative lists, awards and polls, and the page carries the top 100. The score produces honest surprises. Annie Hall (1977), a comedy, is the highest entry; The Piano and The Apartment follow; Casablanca, the genre's most beloved artifact, sits only sixth by score. And the tag net catches love in its darker keys: Vertigo (1958) and Mulholland Drive (2001) are here because obsession and delusion are love stories too — a reminder that the best romantic movies are not always the happiest ones.