Need a romantic film to share with your libertarian sweetheart on a special evening? Look no further. Here are eight libertarian-themed films sure to set the mood for a libertarian date night. These are my top picks from the romance category of this website.
Still Mine
WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS
When a rural farmer builds a new home as a kindness to his ailing wife, a government bureaucrat threatens to tear it down for building code violations. Based on a true story. [Dir: Michael McGowan/ James Cromwell, Ronan Rees, Geneviève Bujold/ 102 min/ Drama/ Anti-regulation, Individualism]
“Based on a true story, the film equates rugged individualism with a stand for personal dignity and control of one’s own destiny.”
–Chicago Sun Times
Flirting
The flirtations of two unusual teenage boarding school students blossom into love despite difficult circumstances. [Dir: John Duigan/ Noah Taylor, Thandie Newton, Nicole Kidman/ 99 min/ Romance, Comedy/ Australia/ Individualism]
“This movie is joyous, wise and life-affirming, and certainly one of the year’s best films.”
–Roger Ebert
“One of the psychological factors undermining personal independence is inordinate risk-aversion. So it’s nice to see a film that puts risk-taking in its proper place, as a necessary part of a worthwhile human existence. The film has a strong individualist undertone. Great film for a libertarian date night.”
–MissLiberty.com
The Scarlet Pimpernel
WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS
Posing as a useless dandy, an English gentleman — loathed by his wife for his foppish silliness — secretly risks all to save innocent lives from the guillotine of the French Revolution. Based on the Baroness Orczy novel, The Scarlet Pimpernel. [Dir: Harold Young/ Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, Raymond Massey, Nigel Bruce/ 98 min/ Action-Adventure, Romance/ Britain/ Democide]
“This film has a tremendous script, including some of the campiest lines ever written. These are delivered with flair by Leslie Howard, who shines in his dual roles of comedic fop and classy gallant. Likewise, Raymond Massey is superb as an almost vampire-like evil agent of ‘The Terror.’ Not a moment is wasted in this tightly directed classic film.”
–MissLiberty.com
Key Largo
A convicted mobster plots to return to his former glory by bringing back Prohibition, and the profitable criminal enterprises it spawned – but he will have to get past a WWII veteran to do it. Key Largo credits: [Dir: John Huston/ Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall / 100 min/ Drama, Romance/ Legalize Drugs]
“The entire series of events takes place in a hotel, a crucible as it were, in which ultimate good is pitted against ultimate evil, trapped together by a hurricane that howls violently outside and tears at the hotel, as though God himself were pitching in. And within this crucible is one of the finest casts ever assembled: Edward G. Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Lionel Barrymore, and Claire Trevor (who won for this Best Actress in a Supporting Role), all guided under the legendary hand of director John Huston.”
–MissLiberty.com
Loving
A married interracial couple’s determination to reside in their home state of Virginia, in violation of Virginia laws against interracial marriage, leads to the legal overturning of all such laws in sixteen states. Based on a true story. Loving credits: [Dir: Jeff Nichols/ Ruth Negga, Joel Edgerton, Will Dalton/ 123 min/ Drama, Romance/ Government as Bigot, Sexual Liberty, Social Tolerance]
“Loving captures at once the tension of man’s morally principled stand against the state, love’s intimacy and the immeasurable toll government control exacts upon the best people…It’s a hard, moving and elegiac movie and it ranks with Black or White and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner high among Hollywood’s greatest interracial-themed films.”
–Scott Holleran
“Historical drama on interracial marriage is Oscarworthy.”
–Rolling Stone
Don Juan DeMarco
A young man’s romantic delusion renews his psychiatrist’s passion for life. [Dir: Jeremy Leven/ Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, Faye Dunaway/ 92 min/ Romance, Comedy/ Psychiatry & Force, Individualism]
“This is a romantic film in every sense of the word: it’s about love, about making an adventure of life, and about the liberating effect that such an imaginative attitude has on people. You’ll laugh, and be touched. Perfect for a libertarian date night.”
–MissLiberty.com
Strictly Ballroom
WINNER: TOP 25 LIBERTARIAN FILMS
When a talented renegade defies the authority of the Australian Dance Federation by dancing to his own steps, there’s only one thing it can do—stop him! [Dir: Baz Luhrmann/ Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter/ 94 min/ Musical-Dance, Comedy, Romance/ Australia/ Individualism]
“Ballroom dance might seem an unlikely subject for a film of interest to libertarians, but it’s just the backdrop here. Underneath is the story of an innovator’s rebellion, the innovator in this case being a talented young dancer who wants to ‘dance to his own steps.'”
–MissLiberty.com
Ninotchka
ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE: BEST PICTURE
A stolid female Soviet agent is sent to Paris on business and is seduced by capitalist ways. [Dir: Ernst Lubitsch/ Greta Garbo, Melvyn Douglas, Ina Claire/ 108 min/ Comedy, Romance/ Anti-Socialism]
“This delightful romantic comedy is listed in almost every reckoning of the greatest films, reflecting both its terrifically witty script and a wonderful performance by Greta Garbo as the grim unfeminine agent of the Soviet state. It is indeed a great film, one of those classic movies everyone should see. One of my favorite bits of dialogue occurs between Ninotchka and a porter at a train station:
Ninotchka: ‘Why do you want to carry my bags?’
Porter: ‘That is my business.’
Ninotchka: ‘That’s no business. That’s social injustice.’
Porter: ‘That depends on the tip.'”
–MissLiberty.com