Supercouple - Film

Film

Given that films inherently have a shorter amount of time to develop characters and carry out storylines, the task of convincing the audience that the film's couple are adequately suited for each other can be daunting. This is especially evident in cases where there is not enough plot focusing on the buildup of the characters' interaction, which can make the love story seem contrived. A memorable line or catchphrase spoken between the characters has been suggested as a remedy to this, since it can elevate a pairing's popularity.

Films may resort to the notion that romance is a solution to life's problems or is unchangeable, tapping into a "love conquers all" appeal; for example, in "doomed" romances where the underlying message is that the love the couple shared endured even though their time together was cut short.

A film supercouple can be a couple appearing with the same actors over the course of few or several films, making the actors the supercouples rather than the characters. Couples such as Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, or Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are examples of this. A supercouple could take place in an epic style of film such as Rocky and Adrian from the Rocky series, or Forrest and Jenny from Forrest Gump.

Audiences have been cited as seeking out film romances for "thrilling, unequalled" love stories, such as with the main romance in Casablanca between ill-fated ex-lovers Rick Blaine, an American expatriate, and Ilsa Lund, the wife of a Czech resistance fighter. The film is often considered the greatest romance in American film history, and one of its catch phrases is uttered by Rick when Ilsa enters his café for the first time after their Parisian affair: "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine." The pairing's relationship includes a combination of drama, comedy, and suspense, and a notable obstacle is Ilsa's emotional struggle of who she really loves — Rick, or her husband, Laszlo. "In the end, Rick sacrifices a lasting relationship with Ilsa because solving the world's problems is far more important than personal love." The most iconic line of the film is cited as "Here's looking at you, kid.", uttered to Ilsa by Rick.

Other classic romances such as Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind and Tony and Maria from West Side Story remain two of cinema's most beloved couples. In the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar entranced audiences "like no other romance in recent years". The love story between the two male ranch hands depicts a clear love between the two characters, but they find it hard to show each other affection, because of the sense that a cowboy must be the ideal American man. The social norms of the era make it difficult for them to create a life together. Before Brokeback, writer/director James Cameron released the 1997 epic Titanic. The film's love story "captured the hearts of movie-goers all over the world" and became a media sensation. The star-crossed romance detailing its lovers, Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater, and the pairing's short but fulfilling time together on a sinking ship became the highest-grossing film of all time with a worldwide total of $1.8 billion, a record it maintained for twelve years.