Alan Rickman is set to return to the director's chair this week with his new period drama A Little Chaos; a movie that sees him reunite with Kate Winslet for the first time since Sense and Sensibility.
A Little Chaos
Over the years we have been treated to some great and sweeping period romances, rocky journeys to happiness, and wonderful characters,
To celebrate the release of A Little Chaos, in cinemas 17th April, we take a look back at some of the other great period romances that have graced our cinema screens over the years.
1. Sense and Sensibility
Emma Thompson's adaption of Jane Austen's classic Sense and Sensibility saw Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman unite on screen for the first time.
The story tells the tale of the Dashwood sisters who are looking for financial security, but ultimately love, after the death of their father. The two of them both have a rocky road as they try to find happiness.
The young singer Marianne (Winslet) falls for well-known womaniser John Willoughby, only to have her heart broken - her despair leading her to almost losing her life.
However, it is in neighbour and friend Colonel Brandon with whom she finally finds happiness - despite being ignorant of his affections.
Elinor's (Thompson) path to happiness is no easier when she believes the man who she has fallen in love with - Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) - has married someone else. However, Elinor has her wires crossed and the pair is finally able to declare their love for one another.
Sense and Sensibility was released back in 1996 and saw Ang Lee in the director's chair. Hugh Laurie, Imelda Staunton, Gemma Jones, and Greg Wise were some of the other names that joined Winslet, Thompson, Rickman, and Grant on the cast list.
2. Shakespeare in Love
Shakespeare in Love was the movie that just about everyone was talking about back in 1999, when Joseph Fiennes teamed up with Gwyneth Paltrow in a tale about William Shakespeare and the woman who inspired him to write Romeo & Juliet.
A young Shakespeare (Fiennes) finds love with Viola de Lesseps (Paltrow) who desperately wants to escape her engagement and act on the stage, but in the late 16th century when this film takes place and women are forbidden to act on the stage.
Their secret romance inspires one of his greatest works, Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare in Love is a sweeping film about the power of love and love that is lost as John Madden took up the director's chair.
Paltrow and Fiennes are terrific in the central roles and make a wonderful romantic pair - Paltrow would go on to win the Best Actress Oscar for her work. The movie also won Best Picture.
3. Pride & Prejudice
One of many adaptions of Jane Austen's classic novels starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. Taking place in rural England, this film focuses on a love story between the clever Elizabeth and the proud and wealthy Mr. Darcy.
Elizabeth at first loathes Mr. Darcy due to his snobbish behaviour, but falls in love with him once he accepts her strong-will and she sees his softer side.
Pride & Prejudice has been adapted for the big and small screen many times, but it is Joe Wright's 2005 adaptation that is the best - hard to believe that this was Wright's feature film directorial debut.
Knightley gives a terrific performance as Elizabeth, a strong willed woman who knows what she wants from life and will not be bullied into a marriage that she doesn't want. Colin Firth is famed for this role and yet Macfadyen makes it his own and breathes new and different life into this character.
Together, Knightley and Macfadyen make the perfect pair and the banter between the two are some of the film's high points.
4. Emma
We have already seen Gwyneth Paltrow embroiled in one period romance, and now we look at a second with Emma. Emma was released back in 1996 and was an adaptation of another Jane Austen classic.
Emma is set in early 19th century England. Emma Woodhouse (Paltrow) thinks she is the matchmaker of her community and tries to set up her friend Harriet Smith (Collette) with the minister Mr Elton (Cumming). Arrangements fall through and the confusion of who loves who grows larger.
While Emma is focusing on the love lives of just about everyone, she does neglect herself somewhat... but that looks set to change when she meets Frank Churchill (Ewan McGregor). However, Emma and Frank are not met to be as she realises the man that she wants to be with has been right there all along.
Emma is a charming adaptation of a great book and Paltrow is terrific as the busybody Emma. She and Jeremy Northam - who plays Mr Knightley - have a great chemistry and you are always rooting for them to be more than just friends.
We have seen quite a few different adaptation of Emma over the years, but it is this film by director Douglas McGrath that remains the best.
5. Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre is one of my favourite books of all time - it is packed with romance, mystery, and two great central characters in Jane Eyre, and Edward Rochester. This is another novel that has been adapted many times, but Cary Fukunaga's version in 2011 is an absolute triumph.
Set in 19th century England, and based on the Charlotte Bronte novel, the film looks into the life of orphan Jane Eyre (Mia Wasikowska). After a rough childhood, Jane finds herself as a governess to a young girl at Thornfield Hall where she finds herself drawn to the mysterious master of the estate, Edward Rochester (Michael Fassbender).
While Wasikowska is great as Jane - she is also an actress who is more appropriate in age than some that have gone before - it is Fassbender that just shines.
He delivers an intense performance and portrays this flawed man beautifully. Fassbender and Wasikowska sizzle as their relationship blossoms... before disaster.
Jane Eyre is a sweeping romance and while we may have seen it many times before, Fukunaga has really given this story new life.
6. Titanic
We all know the tragedy of the Titanic's adventure in 1912 and the tear-jerking fictional tale of Jack and Rose. This film shares a love story of upper-class passenger Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and a poor artist Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) on the infamous ship.
Overcoming class differences and family obligations, the two fall in love and face the Titanic's collision with the iceberg together. The handprint, the drawing, and the necklace with the Heart of the Ocean diamond all symbolize the love between the two and is recognizable to all.
Titanic is a love story that has audiences totally and utterly beguiled back in 1998 - and it was to be the movie that was to shoot both Winslet and DiCaprio to global superstardom.
It is this romance that is the heart and soul of the film; unexpected romance, a love against all odds and yet it ends in devastating heartbreak. These two engaging and interesting characters help tell one of the most iconic moments of recent history. Hands up if you still shed a tear or two!!!
7. Atonement
Keira Knightley returned to the period drama back in 2007 when she reunited with director Joe Wright for the adaptation of the Ian McEwan novel Atonement.
The movie saw Knightley team up with James McAvoy for the first time, to tell this sweeping story of love, loss, mistakes, and war.
This story of two lovers, Cecilia Tallis (Knightley) and Robbie Turner (McAvoy), takes place before and during WWII. However, their love was interrupted when Cecilia's thirteen-year-old sister Briony reports false rumours about Robbie. Throughout the years, Briony realizes her mistakes and tries to atone for the pain she has caused.
Knightley is terrific as the emotionally repressed and quite cold Cecilia, while McAvoy gives a much warmer performance as Robbie - a young man who believes he is the equal of Cecilia, despite being lower than her in rank.
Their scenes together are some of the most powerful and sexually potent of the whole film - the library scene is one that you will not forget in a hurry. They both give great performances and it is this relationship that you are really rooting for.
It is part love story, part war epic, as Wright has produced a complex and devastating story, which combines the literary qualities of the novel with the highly polished acting and production values. A must see.
8. The Notebook
The Notebook is one of the most loved romance movies of recent years, and is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Nicholas Sparks - who has gone on to have many of his book made in movies of late.
The Notebook is a heart-warming tale of Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gosling) and Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams) and results in tears from all who watch. Noah is a poor, country boy from South Carolina and Allie is a rich, city girl who spends her summer also in South Carolina.
The two have an intense summer love, but are then separated from family and obligations. As time goes by, the two are reunited and work to make their happily-ever -after a reality through sickness and in health.
The Notebook really is a true love conquers all story, as Noah and Allie are divided by family pressure and social differences - only to be reunited years later.
It is the chemistry between Gosling and McAdams that really makes this movie as they pair truly sizzle when they share the screen together. It is this relationship that really drives the film and you really do want them to overcome it all and be together.
9. A Little Chaos
A Little Chaos sees Alan Rickman return to the director's chair for the second feature film of his career, which comes seventeen years after he made his debut with The Winter Guest in 1998.
A Little Chaos tells the tale of Sabine De Barra (Kate Winslet) and Andre Le Notre (Matthias Schoenaerts), two landscape gardeners who work together to build one of the main gardens at the Palace of Versailles - Rockwork Grove.
Whilst the two may have differing opinions on how to perfect the garden, the somewhat forbidden attraction between the two of them is undeniable.
Set to a lavish Versailles backdrop, A Little Chaos is about two kindred spirits who unexpectedly find a connection to each other. Sabine is an independent woman who works for herself but harbours pain and guilt over a major personal loss. Andre is stuck in an unhappy marriage and throws himself into his work as a means of escape.
Winslet and Schoenaerts are terrific as Sabine and Andre - two seemingly different people who find common ground where their relationship flourishes. This is a tender romance movie that is as passionate as it is heart-breaking.
