Loves me/loves me not?

Tired of lame rom-coms on Valentine’s Day? Sick of watching the go-to romantic classics — whether it’s When Harry Met Sally or The English Patient? Need a break from Jennifer Anniston and Katherine Heigl flicks? Well, friends and lovers, how about reaching for some underrated date films this V-Day? These are the dark horse classics of romance — movies from an alternate universe of love. (Note: by “alternative” I mean “alternative to Hollywood”; sorry, but these are all hetero Valentine’s picks, because I’m sure somebody else can do a much better non-hetero V-Day list than me.)

While not many of these picks offer conventional happy endings, it’s more often the poignant love story that packs a wallop, such as last year’s indie Blue Valentine starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. Because, sometimes, the love story doesn’t end when the cute couple couple in the final minutes and the soundtrack ascends over the final credits; it’s afterward that counts. And as Joy Division once reminded us, sometimes, “love will tear us apart.”

The End of the Affair (Dir: Neil Jordan) Yada, yada, yada, English Patient, blah, blah, blah… That may have been the romantic period film that put Ralph Fiennes on the map, but this tough-minded adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel is where it’s at: lush wartime London settings, great lighting and period details, and Julianne Moore and Fiennes have never looked more glamorous. Fiennes is a stand-in for Greene’s bitter atheist who is constantly nagged by shreds of Catholic belief. The anti-God prose cuts sharp and deep, but it’s the pain wrought by love and separation that really makes this one a Valentine’s Day weeper.≠

2046 (Dir: Wong Kar-Wai) The conventional wisdom is that Wong Kar-Wai’s In the Mood for Love is the ultimate slow-burn romantic mood piece. But the sci-fi themed 2046 which followed has just as much going for it: in fact, it’s more or less a sequel to In the Mood for Love, with Tony Leung and Zhang Zhiyi roughing it out between the sheets and in the rainy streets. What prevents Tony Leung’s character from giving his love? See previous film to understand more completely. Zhiyi, with her cynical shrug and torrid sneer, is outstanding. Both are trapped in a world that won’t stand still, not even for love. 

Before Sunrise (Dir: Richard Linklater) A 1995 sleeper, this one got razzies at first for too much walking and talking, à la Aaron Sorkin. But it’s what these two talk about, their obvious youthful bloom, and the warm embrace of surrounding Vienna that coats this one in a magical, romantic glow. The sequel was not so bad either, especially the true-to-life ending, but this is the one to woo couples with on Valentine’s Day.

Notorious (Dir: Alfred Hitchcock) The logical choice for any Ingrid Bergman fan is Casablanca. But just catch the sparks between Cary Grant and Bergman as a US federal agent and spy-bait, respectively, in post-WWII Argentina. “This is a funny kind of love affair,” remarks Alicia Huberman (Bergman) wryly as watchful US agent T.R. Devlin (Grant) labors to keep a professional distance. “Perhaps it’s because you don’t love me.” But he does, and she does, and the emotion leaks out the edges of every encounter onscreen. In Hitchcock’s world, country comes before love and romance; watch Grant and Bergman play out their tango of jealousy and suspicion, with loaded dialogue by Ben Hecht.

Last Tango in Paris (Dir: Bernardo Bertolucci) Despite all the controversies about this psycho-sexual film from 1972 — both stars Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider (then 18, recently deceased) said they felt “violated” by the director — there’s no denying the chemistry between the older Brando and the young, sexy Schneider. Brando goes beyond Method to something primal, and the young French actress responds like a pro, whether trilling naked or rolling around on a Parisian apartment floor in ecstasy. Paul, the Brando character, finally sheds the posturing and declares his love — too late. Doesn’t end well for Paul, but at least he’ll always have had Paris.

The New World (Dir: Terrence Malick) This update on Pochahontas is light on dialogue, as most Terrence Malick films are, but heavy on mood and passion. Sometimes you don’t need a lot of words to convey serious mojo. Colin Farrell and Q’orianka Kilcher smolder as the doomed, forbidden couple, drawn to one another in the Jamestown, Virginia settlement in the 1600s. The silences between them are erotically charged. Call it a parable of cross-cultural romance, or simply a tone poem about lost love in a new Eden; beats the Disney version by a mile.

Talk to Her (Dir: Pedro Almodovar) No, don’t watch Sandra Bullock mooning over Bill Pullman again in While You Were Sleeping. Try this coma-victim flick instead: it’s much weirder, much funnier. A hospital attendant falls for a woman in a coma, woos her with flowers, actions and words. Disturbing, lyrical and surreal, this is Almodovar’s most disconcerting “straight” romance yet.

The Piano Teacher (Dir: Michael Haneke) Sure, Jane Campion’s The Piano is the obvious choice, with its exotic New Zealand setting and lush Michael Nyman score. But even more bizarre is the relationship between masochistic piano teacher Erika (Isabelle Huppert) and blonde student Walter (Benoit Magimel) in this 2001 study in perversity, desire and estrangement.

Lust, Caution (Dir: Ang Lee) Unfairly dissed when it came out, Ang Lee’s historical drama is just an excuse for lots of sex scenes between Tony Leung and Tang Wei, a student agitator who goes undercover to help assassinate Leung’s puppet government collaborator during the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1938. As always in such movies, the message is quite clear: Love will tear us apart. Again.

Lost in Translation (Dir: Sofia Coppola) Okay, so it’s not strictly a romance, but a love story of sorts between two strangers in Japan — separated by age, life experience and everything else except a direct spark of human attraction. Perhaps it’s the expectation of these two climbing under the sheets — and the fact that they don’t — that makes this one such a poignant study about what people actually seek in one another. Bill Murray is the engaging, funny, iconic older actor with much to teach, but also a charming romantic; Scarlett Johannson is youth seeking a comfortable haven away from home, a place where everything makes sense. The sparks are real between these two, and generations will be haunted by what actually gets whispered in Johannson’s ear in the final scene.