'The English Patient' & 7 Other Love-During-War Movies, Ranked by Rotten Tomatoes

War and love are seemingly incompatible concepts – one symbolizes destruction and chaos, while the other symbolizes tenderness, and hope. Yet, it's precisely against the backdrop of war's turmoil that stories of love despite separation and death acquire special poignancy.

Cinema has given us many such films, ranging from Hollywood classics to European dramas and from epic sagas to intimate stories.

8. 'Allied', 2016

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 60%

It is 1942. British spy Max arrives in Casablanca with the mission of assassinating the German ambassador. His accomplice is Marianne, a French Resistance member.

The two work together and fall in love, deciding to settle in London. However, a happy family life, a child, and a cozy home could all be destroyed in an instant by Marianne's secrets.

Allied is a spy thriller directed by Robert Zemeckis that stars A-listers – Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard.

7. 'The Reader', 2008

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 63%

Fifteen-year-old Michael starts an affair with Hanna, who is twice his age. They spend time in her apartment, where they mostly read books aloud together.

Some time later, Michael discovers that Hanna has disappeared. Eight years pass, and Michael is now a law student attending a Nazi trial. In the courtroom, he spots his former lover, who worked as a guard at Auschwitz.

6. 'Atonement', 2007

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%

Atonement is a love story cut short at its peak. Aristocrat Cecilia and gardener Robbie are in love, but Briony, Cecilia's younger sister with a wild imagination, drives the young couple apart.

Years later, Briony realizes that she had wrongly accused an innocent man of a crime. However, World War II brings changes to their lives – Cecilia is now a nurse, like many young women in England, and Robbie is a soldier on the battlefield.

Briony, consumed by guilt, begins to seek redemption while the lovers try to find their way back to each other.

5. 'Testament of Youth', 2014

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%

In 1914, the world was on the brink of World War I, and Vera Brittain dreamed of a career in writing. However, women like her were not expected to pursue education or a career.

Nevertheless, she persuades her parents to let her attend Oxford University. Around this time, love enters her life. She meets Roland, a friend of her brother's who enjoys discussing literature with her.

The young couple's plans are ruined by the outbreak of war. Roland and his friends go to the front, and Vera decides to serve her country as a nurse.

4. 'The English Patient', 1996

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%

It's the end of World War II. Nurse Hana is caring for the sick in Italy while grieving the loss of her loved ones. One day, a badly burned pilot who has only a short time to live is brought back to Europe from Africa.

Hana becomes his caregiver in an abandoned monastery. Day after day, the British man reminisces about his past – his desert explorations and a tragic love story.

The movie is based on Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize–winning novel. Like its source material, the film received well-deserved awards, including nine Oscars.

3. 'Cold War', 2018

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 92%

In Poland, the paths of two people cross: an intellectual conductor named Wiktor and a village singer named Zula. These two very different people find themselves overcome by emotion.

Years will pass and cities will change, but the young lovers will continue to part and meet again.

Paweł Pawlikowski's film is not set during World War II – set in the 1950s and 1960s, the movie depicts the aftermath of the Cold War, which permeates everyone's lives. Wiktor and Zula are part of a generation that is traumatized and shattered, trying to live amid the ruins of the postwar era.

2. 'The Cranes Are Flying', 1957

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%

The plot centers on the love story between two young Moscow residents. Boris and Veronika are separated by the outbreak of war. However, the war scenes and soldiers' heroic deeds remain off-screen – the director focuses on Veronika and her difficult life as she waits for Boris.

Veronika and Boris' family suffer from uncertainty – there's no word from him, and Veronika fears she will lose him.

Mikhail Kalatozov's film is a true cinematic masterpiece that captures the tragedy of a generation. Tatiana Samoilova's character, running to the train station with hope in her eyes, represents the many girls across the Soviet Union who never stopped waiting for their loved ones to return.

1. 'Casablanca', 1942

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 99%

The action takes place in Casablanca during World War II. The Moroccan city has become a popular destination for people seeking to escape war-torn Europe and travel to the US or elsewhere.

Rick, an American, fought in the Spanish Civil War and now owns a gambling club in Casablanca. One day, Ilsa, his former lover who had abandoned him, reappears in his life.

Ilsa and her husband, Victor, a Resistance hero, need documents to escape the Germans. Only the cynical Rick can help the couple find safety.