Top 10 Best Romance Movies of All Time

Michael Curtiz's wartime romance between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman defined the template for every doomed love story that followed. Its dialogue is the most quoted in cinema, and its ending the most debated sacrifice in romantic film.

Richard Linklater's Vienna-set romance between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy proved a film could be built entirely from two people talking and falling in love over a single night. Its naturalistic dialogue and open ending launched a beloved trilogy spanning eighteen years.

Celine Sciamma's French period drama about a painter and her aristocratic subject is a radical reimagining of the female gaze in cinema. Its final shot of Heloise weeping at an orchestra concert is devastating in its restraint and emotional power.

David Lean's British classic about a married woman's doomed affair with a stranger at a railway station defined the stiff-upper-lip romance genre. Celia Johnson's performance of quiet desperation set the standard for repressed longing on screen.

Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman's sci-fi romance about erasing memories of a failed relationship is the most inventive love story of the 21st century. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet proved love persists even when reason says it should not.

Luca Guadagnino's sun-drenched Italian romance between Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer captured the exquisite agony of first love with tactile sensuality. Michael Stuhlbarg's monologue to his son about feeling pain is the most compassionate parental speech in cinema.

Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner about an elderly Parisian couple confronting terminal illness is the most brutally honest love story ever made. Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva proved that love's truest test comes not at the beginning but at the end.

Jacques Demy's entirely sung French musical follows two young lovers separated by the Algerian War. Catherine Deneuve's debut and Michel Legrand's heartbreaking score created a candy-colored fairy tale with a gutting realistic conclusion.

Ang Lee's Wyoming-set romance between Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal shattered mainstream cinema's reluctance to portray gay love stories with gravity and beauty. Its "I wish I knew how to quit you" scene became an indelible cultural touchstone.

Michael Curtiz's wartime romance between Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman defined the template for every doomed love story that followed. Its dialogue is the most quoted in cinema, and its ending the most debated sacrifice in romantic film.

Richard Linklater's Vienna-set romance between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy proved a film could be built entirely from two people talking and falling in love over a single night. Its naturalistic dialogue and open ending launched a beloved trilogy spanning eighteen years.

Celine Sciamma's French period drama about a painter and her aristocratic subject is a radical reimagining of the female gaze in cinema. Its final shot of Heloise weeping at an orchestra concert is devastating in its restraint and emotional power.

David Lean's British classic about a married woman's doomed affair with a stranger at a railway station defined the stiff-upper-lip romance genre. Celia Johnson's performance of quiet desperation set the standard for repressed longing on screen.

Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman's sci-fi romance about erasing memories of a failed relationship is the most inventive love story of the 21st century. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet proved love persists even when reason says it should not.

Luca Guadagnino's sun-drenched Italian romance between Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer captured the exquisite agony of first love with tactile sensuality. Michael Stuhlbarg's monologue to his son about feeling pain is the most compassionate parental speech in cinema.

Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner about an elderly Parisian couple confronting terminal illness is the most brutally honest love story ever made. Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva proved that love's truest test comes not at the beginning but at the end.

Jacques Demy's entirely sung French musical follows two young lovers separated by the Algerian War. Catherine Deneuve's debut and Michel Legrand's heartbreaking score created a candy-colored fairy tale with a gutting realistic conclusion.

Ang Lee's Wyoming-set romance between Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal shattered mainstream cinema's reluctance to portray gay love stories with gravity and beauty. Its "I wish I knew how to quit you" scene became an indelible cultural touchstone.