Four-Heart Films

Most recent addition: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

The films included here are the select few that I have given my highest distinction when it comes to love, romance, and the strength/execution of romantic plot elements in narrative feature films: 4 hearts out of 4. The films listed here will include their release/premiere year (in the primary producing nation's country), the primary producing nation(s), director, stars, and applicable genres (excluding Romance, for obvious reasons). There will also be a note detailing which other Film Attribute Rankings these films appear on, in the event that they do overlap.

Newest addition:

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002, USA)

Directed by Joel Zwick

Starring Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan, Louis Mandylor, & Andrea Martin

Comedy

Also featured on 5-Candle Films & Funniest Films

Films are presented here in alphabetical order:

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, USA)

Directed by Michael Curtiz & William Keighley

Starring Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone & Claude Rains

Action, Adventure

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

An Affair to Remember (1957, USA)

Directed by Leo McCarey

Starring Cary Grant & Deborah Kerr

Drama

All This, and Heaven Too (1940, USA)

Directed by Anatole Litvak

Starring Bette Davis, Charles Boyer & Barbara O'Neil

Drama

Amor de Perdição (1978, Portugal)

Directed by Manoel de Oliveira

Starring António Sequeira Lopes, Cristina Hauser & Elsa Wellenkamp

Drama, History

Anarkali (1953, India)

Directed by Nandlal Jaswantlal

Starring Bina Rai, Pradeep Kumar, Mubarak Mechant & Kuldip Kaur

Musical, Drama, History

The Apartment (1960, USA)

Directed by Billy Wilder

Starring Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Jack Kruschen, Edie Adams & Ray Walston

Comedy

Awaara (1951, India)

Directed by Raj Kapoor

Starring Raj Kapoor, Nargis, Prithviraj Kapoor, K. N. Singh & Leela Chitnis

Crime, Drama, Musical

Beauty and the Beast (1991, USA)

Directed by Gary Trousdale & Kirk Wise

Voices by Paige O'Hara, Robby Benson, Richard White, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers, Angela Lansbury & Rex Everhart

Animated, Musical, Fantasy

Before Sunrise (1995, USA)

Directed by Richard Linklater

Starring Ethan Hawke & Julie Deply

Comedy, Drama

Betty Blue (1986, France)

Directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix

Starring Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle, Gérard Darmon & Consuelo de Haviland

Drama

The Big Parade (1925, USA)

Directed by King Vidor

Starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Claire Adams, Karl Dane, Tom O'Brien

War, Drama

Black Orpheus (1959, France-Brazil)

Directed by Marcel Camus

Starring Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveira & Adhemar da Silva

Musical, Drama

Breaking the Waves (1996, Denmark)

Directed by Lars von Trier

Starring Emily Watson, Stellan Skarsgård & Katrin Cartlidge

Drama

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Brief Encounter (1945, UK)

Directed by David Lean

Starring Celia Johnson & Trevor Howard

Drama

Brigadoon (1954, USA)

Directed by Vincente Minnelli

Starring Gene Kelly, Cyd Charisse, Van Johnson & Barry Jones

Musical, Fantasy

The Broken Butterfly (1919, USA)

Directed by Maurice Tourneur

Starring Lew Cody, Pauline Stark & Nina Byron

Drama

Casablanca (1942, USA)

Directed by Michael Curtiz

Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Dooley Wilson & Conrad Veidt

Drama, War

Also featured on Most Thrilling Films & 5-Candle Films

Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954, Japan)

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi

Starring Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyōko Kagawa, Eitarō Shindō & Yōko Minamida

Jidaigeki, Drama, History

Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong)

Directed by Wong Kar-wai

Starring Takeshi Kaneshiro, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-wai & Faye Wong

Drama, Crime (first story), Comedy (second story)

Cousin Cousine (1975, France)

Directed by Jean-Charles Tacchella

Starring Marie-Christine Barrault, Victor Lanoux, Guy Marchand & Marie-France Pisier

Comedy

The Crying Game (1992, UK)

Directed by Neil Jordan

Starring Stephen Rea, Jaye Davidson, Miranda Richardson & Forest Whitaker

Crime, Drama

Cyrano de Bergerac (1990, France)

Directed by Jean-Paul Rappeneau

Starring Gérard Depardieu, Anne Brochet & Vincent Perez

History, Drama, Comedy

Donkey Skin (1970, France)

Directed by Jacques Demy

Starring Catherine Deneuve, Jacques Perrin, Jean Marais & Delphine Seyrig

Fantasy, Comedy, Musical

Also featured on Funniest Films

Elvira Madigan (1967, Sweden)

Directed by Bo Widerberg

Starring Pia Degermark & Thommy Berggren

Drama, History

A Farewell to Arms (1932, USA)

Directed by Frank Borzage

Starring Helen Hayes, Gary Cooper & Adolphe Menjou

War, Drama

A Fish Called Wanda (1988, UK)

Directed by Charles Crichton

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin & Tom Georgeson

Comedy, Crime

Also featured on Funniest Films

Forbidden (1932, USA)

Directed by Frank Capra

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou & Ralph Bellamy

Drama

45 Years (2015, UK)

Directed by Andrew Haigh

Starring Charlotte Rampling & Tom Courtenay

Drama

Frozen (2013, USA)

Directed by Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee

Voices by Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad & Santino Fontana

Animated, Musical, Fantasy

Garden State (2004, USA)

Directed by Zach Braff

Starring Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard & Ian Holm

Comedy, Drama

The General (1927, USA)

Directed by Buster Keaton & Clyde Bruckman

Starring Buster Keaton & Marion Mack

Comedy, Action, History

Also featured on 5-Candle Films & Funniest Films

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006, Japan)

Directed by Mamoru Hosoda

Voices by Riisa Naka, Takuya Ishida & Mitsutaka Itakura

Animated, Science Fiction, Comedy

Golden Eighties (1986, Belgium-France-Switzerland)

Directed by Chantal Akerman

Starring Delphine Seyrig, Nicolas Tronc, Fanny Cottençon, Lio, Pascale Salkin, John Berry, Jean-François Balmer & Charles Denner

Musical

Grand Hotel (1932, USA)

Directed by Edmund Goulding

Starring Greta Garbo, John Barrymore, Joan Crawford, Wallace Beery & Lionel Barrymore

Drama

Her (2013, USA)

Directed by Spike Jonze

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams & Rooney Mara

Voice by Scarlett Johansson

Science Fiction, Comedy, Drama

Here's to the Young Lady (1949, Japan)

Directed by Keisuke Kinoshita

Starring Setsuko Hara, Shūji Sano & Keiji Sada

Comedy

History Is Made at Night (1937, USA)

Directed by Frank Borzage

Starring Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer, Colin Clive & Leo Carrillo

Comedy, Drama

Also featured on Funniest Films

The Illusionist (2006, USA)

Directed by Neil Burger

Starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti & Rufus Sewell

Mystery, Fantasy, History, Drama

In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong)

Directed by Wong Kar-wai

Starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai & Maggie Cheung

Drama

Intolerance (1916, USA)

Directed by D.W. Griffith

Starring Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Walter Long, Margery Wilson, Eugene Pallette, Allan Sears, Constance Talmadge, Elmer Clifton, Alfred Paget, Seena Owen, Howard Gaye, Lillian Langdon & Lillian Gish

Epic, Drama, Religious (3 stories), History (3 stories), Crime (1 story)

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Jane Eyre (1944, USA)

Directed by Robert Stevenson

Starring Joan Fontaine, Orson Welles & Margaret O'Brien

Drama, History

The Kid Brother (1927, USA)

Directed by Ted Wilde & J.A. Howe

Uncredited Directing by Harold Lloyd & Lewis Milestone

Starring Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Walter James, Ralph Yearsley, Constantine Romanoff & Eddie Boland

Western, Comedy, Crime, Drama

Also featured on Funniest Films

The Lady Eve (1941, USA)

Directed by Preston Sturges

Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn & William Demarest

Comedy

Also featured on Funniest Films

The Last of the Mohicans (1992, USA)

Directed by Michael Mann

Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Wes Studi, Russell Means, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May & Steven Waddington

History, War, Epic, Drama

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Laura (1944, USA)

Directed by Otto Preminger

Starring Dana Andrews, Gene Tierney, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price & Judith Anderson

Mystery, Film Noir

Les Enfants du Paradis (1945, France)

Directed by Marcel Carné

Starring Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Louis Salou, Marcel Herrand & María Cesarès

Drama, History, Epic

Let the Right One In (2008, Sweden)

Directed by Tomas Alfredson

Starring Kåre Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson & Per Ragnar

Voiced by Elif Ceylan

Horror, Fantasy

Also featured on Most Thrilling Films

Love Actually (2003, UK)

Directed by Richard Curtis

Starring Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Laura Linney, Colin Firth, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Keira Knightley, Andrew Lincoln, Lúcia Moniz, Bill Nighy, Martine McCutcheon, Kris Marshall, Martin Freeman & Joanna Page

Comedy, Drama

Also featured on 5-Candle Films & Funniest Films

Love Affair (1939, USA)

Directed by Leo McCarey

Starring Irene Dunne, Charles Boyer & Maria Ouspenskaya

Drama

Love Story (1970, USA)

Directed by Arthur Hiller

Starring Ali MacGraw, Ryan O'Neal, John Marley & Ray Milland

Drama

The Lovers (1958, France)

Directed by Louis Malle

Starring Jeanne Moreau, José Luis de Vilallonga, Jean-Marc Bory, Judith Magre & Alain Cuny

Drama

Madhumati (1958, India)

Directed by Bimal Roy

Starring Dilip Kumar, Vyjayanthimala & Pran

Fantasy, Musical, Mystery

The Magic Flute (1975, Sweden)

Directed by Ingmar Bergman

Starring Josef Köstlinger, Irma Urrila, Håkan Hagegård, Ulrik Cold, Birgit Nordin, Ragnar Ulfung, Britt-Marie Aruhn, Kirsten Vaupel & Birgitta Smiding

Musical, Fantasy

Marty (1955, USA)

Directed by Delbert Mann

Starring Ernest Borgnine & Betsy Blair

Drama

A Matter of Life and Death (1946, UK)

Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger

Starring David Niven, Kim Hunter, Roger Livesey, Marius Goring & Raymond Massey

Fantasy, Drama

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Moonrise Kingdom (2012, USA)

Directed by Wes Anderson

Starring Jared Gilman, Kara Hayward, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray & Bob Balaban

Comedy, Adventure, Drama

Also featured on Funniest Films

Moonstruck (1987, USA)

Directed by Norman Jewison

Starring Cher, Nicolas Cage, Olympia Dukakis, Vincent Gardenia & Danny Aiello

Comedy

Also featured on Funniest Films

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002, USA)

Directed by Joel Zwick

Starring Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan, Louis Mandylor, & Andrea Martin

Comedy

Also featured on 5-Candle Films & Funniest Films

The Notebook (2004, USA)

Directed by Nick Cassavetes

Starring Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Marsden, Joan Allen, Kevin Connolly, James Garner & Gena Rowlands

Drama

One Way Passage (1932, USA)

Directed by Tay Garnett

Starring William Powell, Kay Francis, Aline MacMahon, Warren Hymer & Frank McHugh

Drama

Our Hospitality (1923, USA)

Directed by Buster Keaton & John G. Blystone

Starring Buster Keaton, Natalie Talmadge, Joe Roberts, Ralph Bushman & Craig Ward

Comedy

Also featured on Funniest Films

Out of Africa (1985, USA)

Directed by Sydney Pollack

Starring Meryl Streep, Robert Redford & Klaus Maria Brandauer

Drama, Biography, Epic, History

The Passionate Friends (1949, UK)

Directed by David Lean

Starring Ann Todd, Claude Rains & Trevor Howard

Drama

A Place in the Sun (1951, USA)

Directed by George Stevens

Starring Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor & Shelley Winters

Drama, Crime

Pride & Prejudice (2005, UK-USA)

Directed by Joe Wright

Starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, Rosamund Pike, Donald Sutherland, Brenda Blethyn, Simon Woods, Tom Hollander, Kelly Reilly, Talulah Riley, Carey Mulligan, Jena Malone, Claudie Blakley, Rupert Friend, Judi Dench & Tamzin Merchant

Drama, History

Princess Yang Kwei Fei (1955, Japan)

Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi

Starring Machiko Kyō & Masayuki Mori

History, Drama

Ramaiya Vastavaiya (2013, India)

Directed by Prabhu Deva

Starring Girish Kumar, Shruti Haasan, Sonu Sood, Poonam Dhillon, Govind Namdev, Vinod Khanna, Sarfaraz Khan, Randhir Kapoor, Nassar & Anchal Singh

Comedy, Drama, Musical

Also featured Funniest Films

Rebecca (1940, USA)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Starring Joan Fontaine, Laurence Olivier, Judith Anderson & George Sanders

Mystery, Drama, Thriller

Roman Holiday (1953, USA)

Directed by William Wyler

Starring Audrey Hepburn, Gregory Peck & Eddie Albert

Comedy

Also featured on Funniest Films

Romeo + Juliet (1996, USA-Australia)

Directed by Baz Luhrmann

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Claire Danes, John Leguizamo, Pete Postlethwaite, Harold Perrineau, Miriam Margolyes & Paul Sorvino

Drama, Crime

Run Lola Run (1998, Germany)

Directed by Tom Tykwer

Starring Franka Potente, Moritz Bleibtreu & Herbert Knaup

Thriller, Crime, Action

Also featured on Most Thrilling Films

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012, USA)

Directed by Lorene Scafaria

Starring Steve Carrell & Keira Knightley

Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction

Sense and Sensibility (1995, USA)

Directed by Ang Lee

Starring Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Greg Wise & Imogen Stubbs

Drama, History

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Shakespeare in Love (1998, UK-USA)

Directed by John Madden

Starring Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Ben Affleck, Imelda Staunton, Martin Clunes, Simon Callow & Judi Dench

Comedy, History

Also featured on Funniest Films

The Shape of Water (2017, USA)

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Starring Sally Hawkins, Doug Jones, Richard Jenkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer & Michael Stuhlbarg

Fantasy, Drama, History

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Shrek 2 (2004, USA)

Directed by Andrew Adamson, Kelly Asbury & Conrad Vernon

Voices by Mike Meyers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Jennifer Saunders, John Cleese, Julie Andrews & Rupert Everett

Animated, Comedy, Fantasy, Adventure

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Sleepless in Seattle (1993, USA)

Directed by Nora Ephron

Starring Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Ross Malinger, Bill Pullman & Gaby Hoffmann

Comedy

Also featured on Funniest Films

Slumdog Millionaire (2008, UK)

Directed by Danny Boyle

Starring Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal, Anil Kapoor & Mahesh Manjrekar

Drama, Crime

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

A Star Is Born (1954, USA)

Directed by George Cukor

Starring Judy Garland, James Mason & Charles Bickford

Musical, Drama

A Star Is Born (2018, USA)

Directed by Bradley Cooper

Starring Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, Sam Elliott, Rafi Gavron & Dave Chappelle

Musical, Drama

State Fair (1945, USA)

Directed by Walter Lang

Starring Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Charles Winninger, Fay Bainter & Frank McHugh

Musical

Sunrise (1927, USA)

Directed by F. W. Murnau

Starring George O'Brien, Janet Gaynor & Margaret Livingston

Drama

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Swing Time (1936, USA)

Directed by George Stevens

Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick & Georges Metaxa

Musical, Comedy

Also featured on Funniest Films

Tangled (2010, USA)

Directed by Nathan Greno & Byron Howard

Voices by Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi & Donna Murphy

Animated, Musical, Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy

Also featured on Funniest Films

Titanic (1997, USA)

Directed by James Cameron

Starring Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zane, Frances Fisher, Danny Nucci, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton, Kathy Bates, Victor Garber, Bernard Hill, David Warner & Jonathan Hyde

Disaster, History, Drama

Also featured on Most Thrilling Films

The Town (2010, USA)

Directed by Ben Affleck

Starring Ben Affleck, Rebecca Hall, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Pete Postlethwaite & Blake Lively

Crime, Thriller, Neo-Noir

Tropical Malady (2004, Thailand)

Directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul

Starring Banlop Lomnoi & Sakda Kaewbuadee

Drama, Fantasy

Une Liaison Pornographique (1999, Belgium-France-Luxembourg-Switzerland)

Directed by Frédéric Fonteyne

Starring Nathalie Baye & Sergi López

Drama

Wall•e (2008, USA)

Directed by Andrew Stanton

Voices by Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin & MacInTalk

Animated, Science Fiction, Adventure

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

West Side Story (1961, USA)

Directed by Jerome Robbins & Robert Wise

Starring Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn, George Chakiris, Ned Glass, Simon Oakland & William Bramley

Musical, Drama, Crime

Wimbledon (2004, USA)

Directed by Richard Loncraine

Starring Paul Bettany, Kirsten Dunst, Sam Neill, Austin Nichols & James McAvoy

Sport, Comedy

Also featured on 5-Candle Films & Funniest Films

Wings of Desire (1987, West Germany)

Directed by Wim Wenders

Starring Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander & Peter Falk

Fantasy, Drama

Also featured on 5-Candle Films

Witness (1985, USA)

Directed by Peter Weir

Starring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Josef Sommer, Jan Rubeš, Alexander Godunov & Danny Glover

Neo-Noir, Crime, Thriller

Wuthering Heights (1939, USA)

Directed by William Wyler

Starring Merle Oberon, Laurence Olivier, David Niven, Flora Robson, Geraldine Fitzgerald & Miles Mander

Drama, History

Yearning (1964, Japan)

Directed by Nikio Naruse

Starring Hideko Takamine & Yūzō Kayama

Drama

The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967, France)

Directed by Jacques Demy

Starring Catherine Deneuve, Françoise Dorléac, George Chakiris, Michel Piccoli, Grover Dale, Gene Kelly, Jacques Perrin & Danielle Darrieux

Musical