According to Adam and Eve, the forbidden fruit tastes the sweetest, though we all know how it turned out for them… Since childhood, we all have to tame an inner desire to go against the grain, to do things that are strictly forbidden to us . But, as the saying goes, all is fair in love and war, and with love having such a tumultuous range of emotions, it’s just impossible to control who one falls in love with.
In this increasingly liberal and progressive age, the concept of “forbidden love” doesn’t mean much. However, prior to developments in social attitudes, from one’s social class and status or sexual orientation to interracial relationships, there were many taboos and social rules governing who one could and could not fall in love with, often leading to forbidden and often forbidden love. Let’s take a look at some of the best movies about forbidden love…
7 Beauty and the Beast (1946)
We’ve all seen our fair share of beauties and beasts, often providing a refreshing reminder that beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder, and that the superficial world we live in isn’t always so hopelessly superficial. While there have been several cinematic adaptations of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s novel, the 1946 French-language film by deeply poetic filmmaker Jean Cocteau is perhaps the best.
Beauty and the Beastis of course about the fantastic fairy tale of Belle, who moves in with the Beast in his castle in exchange for her father’s life. This original film gives Belle more freedom of choice than the Disney versions and is much more like a real fairy tale.
6 Carol
Cate Blanchett bagged a Golden Globe for Best Actress last week and is widely expected to repeat the same feat at this year’s Academy Awards for her role in the psychodrama. Tar. Playing a lesbian conductor in Todd Field’s new movie wasn’t her first time representing the LGBTQ+ community, in the critically acclaimed 2015 film Carol.
set in 1950s New York, Carol presents the love affair between two department store employees, Carol Aird (Blanchett) and Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara). Due to the attitudes and laws of the time, homosexuality was forbidden and infidelity, especially by women, was definitely taboo.
5 Romeo and Juliet
In Baz Lurhmann’s maximalist, neon-enriched, modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, we get the iconic Romeo + Juliet. The 1996 film is a drastically different take on what many had seen before; the original’s 14th-century discourse is still largely implemented, though it contrasts with the contemporary canvas of Verona Beach.
On the slim chance that you’ve never read or heard the story of Romeo and Juliet previously, this version was a movie describing the impermissible relationship of Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, who fall in love in the midst of a bloody family feud involving their warring relatives. Inevitably, in many of Shakespeare’s plays, this is a love story that ends in tragedy.
4 Titanic
Titanic in name, size and forbidden love, James Cameron’s romantic drama took off in 1997 and caused a stir at the box office, broke the record for the highest-grossing film of all time, and held that prestigious gong for over a decade.
The film where everyone collectively still wonders if there was enough room for both of them on the makeshift raft tells the story of Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Rose (Kate Winslet). Set on the doomed RMS Titanic, the film follows the respective lives of a third-class passenger, artist Jack Dawson, who catches the eye of an aristocrat, Rose DeWitt Bukater, who enters into an unlikely and strictly forbidden relationship.
3 Guess who’s at dinner
Set in the midst of arguably the greatest civil rights movement ever, the status quo-challenging movie Guess who’s at dinner addresses the issue of interracial relations in the wake of the abolition of the segregation law and the implementation of voting rights for minorities.
In an era still inherently racist by today’s standards, Stanley Kramer’s film confronted a touchy subject where a white woman, Joey Drayton (Katharine Houghton), brings her fiancé, John (Sidney Poitier), home to see her parents. to meet. To their surprise and initial dismay, John is in fact a black widower.
2 Portrait of a burning lady
This period piece is as French as Marie Antoinette devouring a bag of snails while taking puffs on a fashionable cigarette outside a Parisian café. The achingly beautiful romance also happened to be recognized as Best Screenplay at Cannes in 2019, where it was also nominated for the prestigious Palme d’Or. Portrait of a burning ladybetter known in his native language as Portrait de la jeune fille en feu, tells the story of aristocrat Héloïse (Adele Haenel), who commissions a painter, Marianne (Noemie Merlant). The two eventually embark on a lesbian love affair in what has been called one of the best LGBTQ+ movies of the 2010s.
1 Pride and prejudice
Adapted from Jane Austen’s 1813 literary classic, Joe Wright’s film adaptation of Pride and prejudice stars Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen as Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy. Set in the early 19th century, the period drama is about an eligible bachelor of class, wealth and considerable status who reluctantly falls in love with a woman of lower social status than him.
Due to their diverse backgrounds and family tree, their love is put to the test. Surrounded by disapproving eyes, Mr. Darcy is faced with doubts about their thriving relationship due to perceived social differences and the societal shame inflicted on him by entering into a relationship with a woman ostensibly below him. The couple must overcome the issues of pride and prejudice in order for their romance to continue. Class as an obstacle that creates forbidden love would go on to inspire some of the greatest romantic movies of all time, such as All heaven permits, Harold and Maude, the heiress, Ali: Fear eats the soul, The Lady Eveand It happened one nightall of which can be easily listed here.