The 1990s were a great decade for cinema. Not only were the blockbusters of the decade also generally acclaimed pieces of spectacle filmmaking, but the independent side of the business also experienced a renaissance of sorts, producing now-masters of the medium like Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson.
The results of this holistic boom in quality and consistency percolated throughout all the major genres, but perhaps none as dramatically and with unusual maturity as the romance genre. Many films throughout the decade attempted to ground and subvert the cinematic romance template, which gave way to some of the best romantic dramas to ever grace the screen. Here is the top ten of the decade, as ranked by Metacritic.
Buffalo '66 (1998) - 68
Vincent Gallo's unusual and bitingly sarcastic film was particularly influential in the independent sphere when released in 1998 for its mixture of scathing wit and understated poignancy. Furthermore, the film's unique style and vintage aesthetic made it a prime candidate for cult status, which it has since achieved. The film's loose narrative centers around a recent prison parolee who kidnaps a young dancer, played by Christina Ricci in one of her very best roles, who he ropes into masquerading as his wife for his parents. The film is alternately horrifying, funny, and brilliant and remains Gallo's most cohesive vision.
Edward Scissorhands (1991) - 74
Tim Burton entered the decade with a bang when he released one of his most beloved efforts with Edward Scissorhands. The film's surreal fairy-tale-esque narrative and visual style represented the director at his most original and coherent. Burton regular Johnny Depp stars as the titular creation, an almost-finished creature (?), who descends upon a suburban community and changes their lives in various ways. The film gets progressively darker and more romantic as it moves along, culminating in a third act that is pure gothic romance at its most beautiful and strange.
Titanic (1997) - 75
Not only the highest-grossing film of the decade but one of the highest-grossing films of all time, James Cameron's historical-romance epic also managed to sweep big at the year's Academy Awards ceremony, including Best Picture.
A film that almost everybody has either seen or has heard so much about they feel like they've seen it, Cameron's film tells the story of two star-crossed lovers whose doomed affair plays out as the famous tragedy inevitably unfolds around them. Despite the film's oversaturation in pop culture, Cameron's movie remains an impressive dramatic and technical achievement.
The Last Of The Mohicans (1992) - 76
Michael Mann traded out his gritty crime palette for this lush adaption of James Fenimore Cooper's dense pioneering novel. Mann condenses the source material into a gorgeous period piece thriller that features some of the decade's best cinematography alongside the film's now-famous musical score. The central romance of the film is between Daniel Day-Lewis's Hawkeye and Madeline Stowe's Cora, though there are various triangles and parallel romances going on as well. Though these elements work well on their own, they are balanced out to perfection in the film with politics and battle sequences.
Breaking The Waves (1996) - 76
Infamous auteur and provocateur Lars Von Trier struck early gold with his breakout film Breaking the Waves. The film is a brutal and uncompromising journey into the world of a young Scottish woman, played to genuine perfection by Emily Watson, as she endures a crisis of love, faith, and sacrifice.
One of Trier's least pretentious and moving efforts, the film's musings on the aforementioned topics are unsettling and cerebral, leading to one of Trier's most devastating and ingenious endings. The film launched the Danish director and his leading lady into international fame.
Metropolitan (1990) - 77
If Richard Linklater directed a script by Woody Allen, it might look something like Whit Stillman's Metropolitan. Released in 1990 to critical acclaim and a successful arthouse run, Stillman's comedy-drama centers around a group of well-t0-do teenagers submerged in debutant society in Manhattan who spend the evenings drinking and trading half-philosophies. Soon they are ed by a peer who is not from the same upbringing as them, which causes tension and romantic confusions. The film begins charming before morphing into a darker meditation on class politics and changing traditions. One of the smartest coming-of-age films ever made.
Before Sunrise (1995) - 77
After making a splash with Dazed and Confused, Richard Linklater turned his eye on the first of a trilogy of films made over an 18 year period that are some of the most critically adored romance films ever made. The first installment, Before Sunrise, introduced the world to Ethan Hawke's Jesse and Julie Delpy's Celine, two young strangers who meet on a train and fall in love over the course of a day walking around Vienna. The film's deceptively simple premise provides seemingly endless amounts of fodder for the two lovers to ruminate and have discourse on as they fall deeper and deeper in love with each other.
Leaving Las Vegas (1995) - 82
Nicolas Cage took home the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in this pitch-black plunge into the relationship between a suicidal drinker and an empathetic sex worker, played with amazing nuance by Elizabeth Shue.
Cage and Shue have real chemistry in the film, and the unusually merciless seriousness the film approaches the material with is refreshing and cold in a way most films would never attempt. The film's woozy jazz score and Vegas-at-night-drenched visuals help elevate the film even higher, leading to one of the decade's most uncompromising romantic visions.
The Remains Of The Day (1993) - 84
Famed masters of the period piece drama Ivory & Merchant hit their peak in the early 90s with Howard's End and this film, The Remains of the Day. Starring Anthony Hopkins as a stern and loyal-to-a-fault butler and Emma Thompson as the long-time object of his affection, the film's dense and detailed set, and costume design help emerge the viewer into the film, a slow and highly intellectual experience. Hopkins and Thompson are two of the best actors of their time, and they keep everything grounded and human. It is one of the most adult and gorgeous efforts of the decade.
Beauty And The Beast (1991) - 95
Films strictly for adults weren't the only ones that managed to mature throughout the decade; Disney's output during the decade would lead to some of the studio's most acclaimed work in the history of the studio. However, Beauty and the Beast is matched only by The Lion King in of the cross-over effect that carried their reputations from 'Great Kid's Film' to 'Great Film'. Beauty and the Beast managed to score a nomination for Best Picture, an achievement unheard of at the time. The film's charming-yet-melancholy treatment of the central romance is a high point for animated storytelling and is unquestionably timeless.
