Separated by oceans, time, propriety – or
prison – long-distance lovers are a cinematic staple, and perfect viewing for virtual valentines everywhere
For some, Valentine’s Day is one red-letter occasion that won’t be significantly spoiled by a global pandemic and attendant lockdown: skipping the impossible-to-book dinner date and settling for a cosy couple’s night in isn’t too much of a sacrifice. For those who don’t live with the one they love, however, it further emphasises this pained, indefinite period of isolation and separation. For them, it will be a Valentine’s Day of FaceTime intimacy, romantic meals eaten over Zoom, perhaps a favourite film simulwatched across the miles.
Cinema, at least, is sympathetic to such circumstances. History is stacked with screen romances in which the drama hinges on keeping people apart rather than together. In Sleepless in Seattle (1993; Now TV), of course, Nora Ephron pulled off the trick of not having her destiny-driven, cities-apart lovers properly meet until the final scene, essentially counting on the uncombined charms of Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks to woo viewers into rooting for their union. Ephron’s film paid devoted tribute to Leo McCarey’s glossy, high-glam 1957 melodrama An Affair to Remember (Microsoft) – itself a remake of McCarey’s better, airier Love Affair (1939;
Amazon Prime), which found the weepiest of reasons to separate Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr for more than a year after their swoony first connection.