Read this list and you might think we are a little twisted. Okay, we are little twisted. But our top romances of 2006 include the moving reunions of old lovers, gay threesomes, two little known Gael Garcia Bernal films, and old fashioned cowboy and young pretty girl love.
1. The Secret Life of Words
A taciturn nurse with deep buried secrets takes care of a blinded man on an oil rig at sea. It does not sound like an obvious scenario for romance. The unexpected coupling of Sarah Polley and Tim Robbins, risky on the page, is a tremendous success. Polley trades bland morsels of chicken for fresh gnocchi and mascarapone ice cream, and reveals her profoundly disturbing history, handled beautifully by Coixet. Without giving too much away, it's fair to say that The Secret Life of Words is the most satisfying romance of 2006.2. Changing Times
French superstars Catherine Deneuve and Gerard Depardieu come together again in Andre Téchiné's
Changing Times. The on-screen lovers are older, sadder and more compelling than ever. The romance between a seeming stalker and a married woman is immensely satisfying.
3. Shortbus
Imagine Woody Allen with gay threesomes and and remote-controlled egg vibrators: with his groundbreaking second film, John Cameron Mitchell (
Hedwig and the Angry Inch) recognizes hardcore sex as the logical extension of the comedy of sexual manners. There's plenty of heartfelt love flowing in this surprisingly warm, happy film
Talk about forbidden love: a discharged solider, Gael Garcia Bernal searches for his lost father but falls in love with his freckled Christian half-sister. He woos the innocent, unknowing girl (the luminescent Pell James). Their love affair is both tender and sweet and terrifically nerve-wracking. It's his sister, after all. His little sister.
Teenage Evan Rachel Woods in a tiny pink bikini and Ed Norton in a cowboy hat: their chemistry is enormous - and that's before they take the ecstasy. A modern day Romeo and Juliet, David Jacobson's
Down in the Valley dark, compelling romance shows the pitfalls of a love affair when Dad doesn't approve.
6. The Science of Sleep
Michel Gondry's work is so hip that it's easy to forget what a romantic he is. A rumpled, befuddled calendar designer (played by the heart stoppingly charming Gael Garcia Bernal falls for the girl next door. Charlotte Gainsberg matches Bernal's appeal, adorable in glasses and a bulky sweater. Their unusual romance involves the crafting of stuffed animals and transport to an imaginary universe. It's hard to conjure the idea of romance when you think about writer Charles Bukowski. Bent Hamer's
Factotum shows a tender man, drunk or sober. The on and off again relationship relation between Bukowski alter ego Henry Chinaski (Matt Dillon) and Janice (Lili Taylor) includes many, small beautiful moments, including a scene where Chinaski gives his tired woman the shoes off his feet.
