Back in the day, my roommates and I would sit around and watch “look” clips. These were clips from films where the characters were deeply in love but the only way you could tell was by the “looks” they gave each other.
There was no passionate kissing, just a deep and repressed Pride and Prejudice-like passion. Something about the longing, the love without resolution was so romantic and so moving.
During the viewing of these clips, we screamed a lot, held hands and many tears were shed.
Some of my favorite moments include:
Pride and Prejudice (A&E) – the look Mr. Darcy gives Miss Bennet when she goes to straighten the pages of his sister’s piano music. AAAHHHH!!! Then he goes back to the same spot in the drawing room and relives the look.
The new Pride and Prejudice – Mossy columns…proposal…in the rain…
Sound of Music – The scene where they dance out in the courtyard and her face blushes and they can’t stop staring at each other. This portion of the musical is worn out on my DVD. When she ends up back in her room with evil Baroness Shrader, time to rewind.
Jane Eyre (A&E version) – Samantha Morton who plays Jane comes to save Mr. Rochester from being burned alive in his bed. He asks her to stay a moment and hold his hand…
An Affair to Remember – See Rita Wilson’s stirring rendition of this one in Sleepless in Seattle.
Riverdance – There’s a scene where a couple sings a love song and at the end she turns away and then he grabs her by the hand and they look in each other’s eyes and my roommates LOSE THEIR MINDS. Yes, Riverdance, with the dancing. That is correct.
Remains of the Day – Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins, the love, the inability to express emotion, the physical and emotional closeness that can never be.
What are your favorites? Share – for the love of the season.
Oh, I’m so bugged that I just found this post! I wanted to add mine:
“That day she was amazed to discover that when he said ‘As you wish,’ he was really saying ‘I love you.’ And even more amazing was the day when she discovered she truly loved him back.”
“Farm boy! …Fetch me that pitcher?”
:: reaches up and grabs it, hands it to her ::
Whisper: “As you wish….”
:: wiping drool with sleeve ::
UGh. These are TORTURE for me. I have been in that position before and don’t care to remember how torturous it has been to want someone I couldn’t have. First, it was my now husband. Then, a guy who had a fling with me while still with his girlfriend, when he told me that he was leaving her (and I thought that meant like, “tomorrow” when really it meant “I’m saying this now so you won’t feel guilty fooling around with me, even though I’m totally not going to leave her and will stay with her for a few years more!”) and then appeared in a musical with him where we never spoke and tried to completely ignore each other and the story gets even more torturous.
Hardly anything compares to this pain, it’s a unique kind, and Kate Winslet does a good job of explaining in the beginning of The Holiday.
ALTHOUGH…. the tension between Sydney and Vaughn in Alias was some of the best television ever and the best part was when the tension WAS diffused by that famous kiss!! It was THE BEST!
of course, classic cry-your-heart-out, “A Walk To Remember”. of course there are countless amazing memorable moments in that movie, but i must say that my absolute favorites were when Landon proposes to her. i mean come on!!! ITS SO FREAKIN CUTE!!! hes just like…can i ask you something? anything. will you,,please marry me?? OMGGG!!!! and of course, at this points i could NOT control sobbing my eyes out, when she is walking down the aisle at her wedding!!!! oh my gosh….i honestly couldnt control my tear flow at that.
With all due respect to people who love repressed passion movies, full of meaningful looks, I’d have to say I”m not a fan. Personally, I find repressed passion really quite boring and dull. The only movie in which I thought repressed passion / love was done really well was “Remains of the Day”, featuring Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins. That was convincing – Emma is a fantastic actress. She made it real.