Twenty-eight-year-old writer-director Drake Doremus’s new film, Like Crazy, won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It’s about the relationship between two college students: a British girl named Anna (Felicity Jones), and an American boy named Jacob (Anton Yelchin). After Anna overstays her visa in the United States, she is banned from the country. The film also stars Jennifer Lawrence. It opens today.
Brow Beat asked Doremus to pick his top five movies about first love.
The Graduate (1967)
Perfect storytelling, full of love, sex, relationships, and humor. And then there’s the great soundtrack by Simon & Garfunkel. Paul Simon’s music plays a big role in Like Crazy, too. He is a timeless artist.
Breaking the Waves (1996)
Hard to watch at times, but also impossible to look away from. Emily Watson’s performance leaves me devastated. Feeling that much love for someone is as painful as it is joyous.
Harold and Maude (1971)
An original and resonating film. I love watching this one at any time and in any place. Its understanding of the human connection is breathtaking.
True Romance (1993)
Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette define the term “partners in crime” in this film. Both sad and lost, they find themselves in each other. Who wouldn’t want to be with someone who is willing to die for you, kill the bad guys for you, and then take you out for Kung Fu movies and apple pie?
Paper Heart (2009)
There is nothing sadder than someone who feels they are incapable of love. And there is nothing more hopeful and satisfying than watching them find it for the first time.
