Love Hurts; Films That Tell Heartbreaking Tales

Love may well be the most internationally recognised of emotions, seemingly barrierless, not controllable yet it is often restricted, mostly by those that don’t approve of the relationship. Whether political, lgbtq, social status, religious, or ethnic differences it has been the subject of many films. They are, after all, a good way to portray often true love stories with heartbreaking consequences. Find out more here in Love Hurts; Films That Tell Heartbreaking Tales

Love stories are probably one of the most popular narratives for moviegoers, maybe because most of us have had the experience of falling in love and even experiencing heartbreak and loss.

Love between people should seem to be the simplest of affairs. But when race, religion, politics, sexual orientation, or place get in the way true love doesn’t always run smoothly. Whether it be other people’s opinions or those of the lovers themselves this most pure of emotions can be as rocky as any raw life experience

Two new films deal with this subject matter but from the perspective of love affairs that are forbidden or even unseen.

Inspired by real events, Shoshana is a political thriller set in 1930s Tel Aviv. as well as a strangled love story. At this point in time, the country of Israel had yet to fully form and it contained a very diverse community, Druze, Muslim, Christian, Baháʼí and Jewish as well as some more nomadic communities, all of whom were under the rule of the British.

In this portrait, Thomas Wilkin, works in the anti-terrorist squad of the British Palestine Police Force, and is in love with local woman Shoshana Borochov. He is fighting the forces of both Muslim and Jewish terrorists both vying to control the country and to remove British rule.

Timing-wise, it is the lead-up to the Second World War and the rise of Hitler. Yet Shoshana is not particularly political but certainly wants to see peace in the area. She wants to see a Jewish state but does not follow the main terrorist groups including the Haganah (the Jewish leadership created to protect Jewish farms and kibbutzim), a more peaceful approach, and then the more extreme group the Irgun (terrorism against the British, whom it regarded as illegal occupiers, and against Arabs) and then a later group Lehi, who were even more extreme.

The film’s surface deals with the obsession the British army seemed to have with one man they considered a terrorist, the then passionate yet dangerous Zionist militant Avraham Stern.

Shoshana seems to prefer the more peaceful approach of the Hagana, but as terrorist activity becomes more intense and her British lover is commanded to make more aggressive actions the lovers begin to tear apart. Through their relationship the film explores the way extremism and violence drive a wedge between people, forcing them to choose sides. A historical story, a political tale, a semi-biographical but most of all a love Story. Told with flair passion and beautifully crafted acting

Written and directed by Micheal Winterbottom who had been developing the film for many years. In 2010, Jim Sturgess, Colin Firth, and Matthew Macfadyen were announced as its stars. While the film never entered production in 2010, Winterbottom did shoot documentary footage in Israel at the time with surviving participants in the events, which finally started in Italy in 2021.

James Wilkin and Shoshana Borochov with her mother and brother

The film is based on the lives of Shoshana Borochov and Thomas James Wilkin, who had joined the Palestine Police Force in Mandatory Palestine in 1930. Meeting again at a dance in March 1933 Wilkin asked her to dance and she agreed to teach him Hebrew. Thus began the relationship between them, which lasted eleven years until his assassination by Lehi on September 29, 1944.

Another Love Hurts; Films That Tell Heartbreaking Tales is out called The Letter Writer, another unconventional love story this one about unrequited love.  Set in the 1960s ‘old Dubai’ a young boy who works summers as a professional letter writer for local illiterate travellers. He falls in love with the object of a customer’s affection.

At this period in Dubai, the then lucrative pearl industry had collapsed but an oil exploration contract had been signed which guaranteed royalty rights for Dubai, yet it did not go into work until 1966. Hence the area was a great deal of poverty even though the area was a big trading business due to the port.

The debut feature from singer-songwriter Layla Kaylif, set in 1965 Dubai, a young Arab nationalist boy, works his summers away as a professional letter writer and translator. A seemly mundane job, the young boy’s life changes forever when he falls head over heels for an English woman he must write to on behalf of a client, embarking on an adventure of love, loss, and awakening with every word he writes.

SHOSHANA will be released in cinemas across UK and Ireland on Friday 23rd February 2024 See the trailer here

The Letter Writer will be available on Amazon Prime from 14th February for USA and 19th February for UK

If you enjoyed reading Love Hurts; Films That Tell Heartbreaking Tales why not read Its a Musical Family Affair Here

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