Since the beginning of film, the many varieties and facets of love have enthralled audiences and evoked deep longings, pleasures, and fears. This collection of films explores love in film along two dimensions. First, we explore the different kinds of love relationships: parental, friendship-based, romantic, and spousal. Second, we discover the polarities inherent within love: passionate/compassionate, obsessive/detached, fulfilled/unrequited, and comic/tragic. By viewing these feature films from the silent era to the present, we deepen our capacity to appreciate the meaning and value of relationships as described by Thomas Merton: “Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone — we find it with another.”

Films shown in this order:

  1. Titanic (clips shown)
  2. Pather Panchali (part of the Apu Trilogy)
  3. City Lights
  4. Twenty-Four Eyes
  5. The African Queen
  6. The Magic Flute
  7. Wuthering Heights
  8. Letter from an Unknown Woman
  9. The Bridges of Madison County
  10. When Harry Met Sally
  11. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
  12. Shadowlands
  13. Babette’s Feast
  14. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
  15. Love Among the Ruins
  16. Casablanca

Bonus films

  1. Vertigo
  2. The Misfits

See also: Twenty Favorite Films

Photo by Jaddy Liu


Br. David Steindl-Rast
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