Whether inspired by true crime stories like Bonnie & Clyde, or fictional thrillers like True Romance, “lovers on the run” is a classic theme found throughout cinema. These stories often take us through the rise & fall of a passionate romance between emotionally wounded people whose fates, both romantically & personally, are doomed from the start. This intersection of the crime & romance genres explore the idea that passion & destruction in a relationship can often be one fluid experience. Beyond the interpersonal, these films can also be psychologically & politically transgressive, exploring themes of iconoclasm, nonconformity, the pursuit of freedom, a rejection of societal norms & expectations... These characters can briefly exist within their own quest for freedom, but will eventually be cut down by the power & influence of society & culture.
Breathless, Jean-Luc Godard, 1960
Breathless is a beautiful & poetic film that is also one of the most popular examples of the French New Wave film movement. Stylistically, Breathless was extremely innovative & experimental for the time in it’s use of camera work, jump cuts, abstract sequences & nonlinear narrative.
French New Wave was an art film movement in the late 1950s through 1960s that represented a rejection of traditional filmmaking under the influence of mainstream Hollywood. New Wave was about the artistic experimentation of filmmaking, often exploring existentialist themes. When you think about the context of Godard making Breathless, it was a fairly reckless experimentation - an exploration of the camera & editing process as an art form, breaking the expectations of the industry. In this way, the recklessness of the film itself is expressed through the narrative as well.
Breathless tells about Michel (Jean-Paul Belmondo), a criminal who kills a policeman in the opening scene. While on the run, Michel seeks refuge in a love affair with an American journalist student, Patricia (Jean Seberg) in Paris. Patricia represents a literal & psychological escape to Michel - he is infatuated with the fantasy that he escapes the police & finds physical & emotional sanctuary in Patricia. He conflates his passion for her with his desire for freedom.
Both characters are rather detached from reality, indulging in the fantasy they provide for one another. Michel cosplays a Humphrey Bogart type character, while Patricia is more complex. She navigates the romance with a cool detachment, trying on Michel to understand herself more in the process. What may seem at first a confusing romantic pairing reveals itself as an attraction to self through each other.
I’m compelled to organize this list in chronological order for some reason - perhaps to recognize the influence these films have on one another throughout the decades. That puts Terrance Malick’s Badlands next on this list of 5 selections.
Badlands, Terrance Malick, 1973
Malick is very concerned with mood in his filmmaking, & the cinematography & sound design of Badlands stands out as the most poignant aspects of this film. 1970s American filmmaking is my favorite era of cinema, so I may be biased, but it is truly a beautiful film. There is a harrowing darkness in Badlands that weighs heavier than anything going on in Breathless or maybe other romantic crime noir dramas.
15 year old Holly (Sissy Spacek) is trapped within a life she feels helpless within. She is in an abusive relationship with her father, which drives her to become interested in 25 year old Kit (Martin Sheen), who lures Holly into an even darker psychological space. All the while, Malick as the filmmaker presents a near detachment from everything happening in this film - the viewer is forced to radically accept the violence taking place & the fate of Holly’s character. But at the same time, the film has a warmth to it & a lightheartedness as well. The way Malick approached this film gives it a multitude of layers & evokes a range of emotions from the viewer. I think this film is about fantasy versus reality, existential desperation, youthful disillusionment, & the romanticization of Americana glamor & celebrity. Kit presents himself like a James Dean character, not dissimilar to Michel’s character mimicking Bogart in Breathless. These men disguise themselves as iconic American celebrities to mask their own desperation while clinging onto the edge of society.
Jumping out of chronological order for a second because I want to talk about True Romance next.
True Romance, Tony Scott, 1993
If you’ve never seen True Romance, it is a romantic crime thriller about a comic book nerd/Elvis lover named Clarence (Christian Slater) & a call girl named Alabama (Patricia Arquette) who fall in love. After marrying, Clarence kills Alabama’s pimp & grabs a suitcase of cocaine thinking it’s Alabama's clothes. The two hit the road for California hoping to sell the cocaine, but the mob is soon after them.
I really do believe in the heart of this movie. There are so many things in the film that make it a great crime thriller, but that story is ultimately fueled by the romance of Alabama & Clarence. Both characters are so pure of heart & you believe in their purity. Their unconditional dedication to each other is contrasted by the hyper-violent crime world that they find themselves involved in. Both characters make decisions throughout the film that put each other in harm’s way, but there is a will to live & a passionate pursuit of freedom that persists throughout.
I couldn’t write anything about this film without noting the ensemble cast of Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, James Gandolfini, Michael Rapaport, Samuel L. Jackson… Gary Oldman is literally insane in this movie & Floyd is one of my all time favorite Brad Pitt characters. It is a Tarantino script so the whole film is very dialogue heavy.
What sets True Romance apart from some of the previous films on this list is that the lovers make it through their passionate quest for freedom - scarred but ultimately alive. We as the viewers are rewarded with that; maybe romance can survive the harshest of environments & circumstances. I find this movie genuinely heart warming.
Wild at Heart, David Lynch, 1990
Sailor & Lula… Gotta love ‘em. I personally feel like this film is David Lynch’s ultimate outlier - it’s a campy, rock & roll comedy filled with explosions, violent kills, & metal guitar riffs playing over sex scenes. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still some weird shit going on. But the things in this film that point directly to Lynch? That sexually-charged-soap-opera kind of vibe & an amazing cast of characters. Oh & his obsession with fire & nightclubs… Are nightclubs Lynch’s liminal spaces? That’s another tangent/article.
The cinematography & costume design in Wild at Heart are also incredible. Lula, played by Laura Dern, is as iconic as Alabama Worley. Outfits, nails, hair, southern accent… Actually, Wild at Heart & True Romance have a lot of similarities. Sailor & Lula have such a genuine relationship, much like that in True Romance. Though I do feel like there is some youthful disillusionment going on for Lula’s character, this film is also about a pure & desperate pursuit of freedom. One of my favorite quotes from the movie is when Sailor, Nicolas Cage’s character, is about to get into a fight at the rock club…
“You look like a clown in that stupid jacket”
Sailor: “This is a snake-skin jacket, and for me this is a symbol of my individuality & my belief in personal freedom”
“Asshole”
*Fight scene ensues*
Wild at Heart is ultimately a film about two lovers, Sailor & Lula. Lula’s mother hires someone to kill Sailor in the first scene of the film. Sailor kills the assassin in self-defense & is jailed as a murderous criminal. When Sailor gets out, him & Lula reunite & run from home while Lula’s family plots to find them. The film follows their adventure on the road: fucking in hotel rooms, dancing at nightclubs, driving the highways late at night, & meeting up with Sailor’s sketchy friend Bobby (Willem Dafoe’s creepiest role). Things get pretty weird! Lots of nudity! Lynchian Nightmare Certified!
I rewatched this movie to write about it because it had been awhile since I had last seen it. I completely forgot about Glenda the Good Witch coming down from the sky at the end & it’s fucking Sheryl Lee. She makes an amazing Glenda the Good. I love the idea of Laura Palmer traveling dimensions to make an appearance in the Wild at Heart universe.
Natural Born Killers, Oliver Stone, 1994
Lastly, I’m going to talk about Natural Born Killers. While True Romance is a romantic crime thriller highlighting the purity of the love between Clarence & Alabama, Natural Born Killers is the villainous counterpart glamorizing the scandal of celebrity crime. It follows Mickey (Woody Harrelson) & Mallory (Juliette Lewis), two lovers & mass murderers going on a killing spree across America, seeking notoriety for their crimes. This film is a satirical critique on celebrity crime & scandal in America - it came out the same year as the OJ Simpson trial.
There is a psychedelia in the film as well - the combination of color & black & white cinematography, stylistic changes between sitcom style scenes, animated cartoons, & newsreels. It’s definitely a heady fever dream.
I was looking over Roger Ebert’s review of the film before writing this. I don’t always agree with his opinions but I liked something he said about Natural Born Killers,
“The review panel threatened the film with the dreaded NC-17 rating, and after five appeals and some cutting finally granted the R rating. But read their parental warning: “For extreme violence and graphic carnage, for shocking images, and for strong language and sexuality.” They’ve got the fever! I could point to a dozen more violent recent films that have left the MPAA unstirred, but Stone has touched a nerve here, because his film isn’t about violence, it’s about how we respond to violence, and that truly is shocking.”
There are many other films that explore the “lovers on the run” trope that I haven’t seen - including a lot of queer & poc stories.
Some films on my watchlist that relate to this theme are:
Queen & Slim
The Living End
The Doom Generation
My Own Private Idaho
Bones & All
The Getaway
Heaven’s Burning
Bonnie & Clyde
Gun Crazy
Love and a .45
What are your favorite movies about lovers on the run?
Love & a .45
No Thelma and Louise?