Dawn's Top 5 favorite Romantic Films:

I love to watch a good romantic period movie, especially on Valentines Day. So, to celebrate Valentines Day, I thought I would share with you my top 5 favorite love stories that have made it to the silver screen.

MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA (2005). A film adaptation of the novel of the same name, produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and Spyglass Entertainment. Directed by Rob Marshall. Cast: Zhang Ziyi, Ken Watanabe, Gong Li, Michelle Yeoh, Youki Kudoh, and Suzuka Ohgo. Ohgo plays the younger Sayuri in the movie, which was filmed in southern and northern California and in several locations in Kyoto, including the Kiyomizu temple and the Fushimi Inari shrine.

Memoirs of a Geisha tells the story of a young girl, Chiyo Sakamoto, who is sold to a geisha house after her mother becomes ill. The geisha house sends her off to school to learn to become a geisha. Her beautiful blue eyes makes Hatsumomo jealous and she treats her badly until she is rescued by Hatsumomo's rival, Mameha. This movie is about a young woman"s struggle to win the love, of the man who once showed her kindness on a bridge eating a cherry ice many years before. Will he remember her? The film was nominated and won numerous awards, including nominations for six Academy Awards, and eventually won three: Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

The Illusionist (2006). Period drama. Directed by Neil Burger. Cast: Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, and Paul Giamatti. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", The Illusionist tells the story of Eisenheim, a magician in turn-of-the-20th-century Vienna.

A young boy and girl fall in love. Unfortunately, the girl is far above his social standards and her parents forbid them to see each other. The boy takes off to travel the world to become a magician. After many years has passed the girl is now engaged to the, Crown Prince. On a chance meeting during one of the magician's performance he finds the young woman and uses his magic to free her from the Crown Prince.

The Age of Innocence(1993). Film adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1920 novel of the same name. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder. The film won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, and was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Art Direction.

Lawyer Newland Archer,is engaged to socialite May Welland. Newland begins to question if he wants to marry May after the arrival of her cousin, Countess Ellen Olenska. Ellen wants a divorce from her husband, a Polish count, which has made her a social outcast. Newland finds himself in love with Ellen and does not know if he can go on with his marriage to May, or follow his heart.

THE DUCHESS (2008). British drama film based on Amanda Foreman's biography of the 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.

Georgiana Spencer became Duchess of Devonshire at the height of the Georgian period. Spirited and loved by everyone Georgiana quickly becomes unhappy with her marriage, when she learns that her only duty is to produce a male heir. It is her misfortune when she becomes friends with Lady Bess, who falls in love with her husband. To escape from the Duke, Georgiana falls passionately in love with Charles Grey, young politician. However, despite his affair with Lady Bess, the Duke refuses to allow her to continue the affair.

Last but not least, Gone with the Wind(1939). A historical epic and romance/drama adapted from Margaret Mitchell's Pulitzer-winning 1936 novel of the same name. It was produced by David O. Selznick and directed by Victor Fleming from a screenplay by Sidney Howard. Set in the 19th century American South. Cast: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Leslie Howard, Olivia de Havilland, and Hattie McDaniel. Tells a romantic love story during the American Civil War.