“You have a type,” says my therapist during one of our sessions. Given the self-perceived toxic coping strategies embraced by (some of) my exes, along with my own less than admirable patterns of jealousy and insecurities, I feel uniquely qualified to consider the films screening as part of the Gene Siskel Film Center’s “Bad Romance” programming. Neither pro- nor anti- Valentine’s Day, the nine films selected examine love as a series of bitter tumults, tough compromises, and vindictive revenge. It’s an eclectic collection and one of the most exciting bits of film programming to emerge at the other end of the pandemic. From Elaine May’s screwball deconstruction of settling for wealth in A New Leaf to David Lynch’s metal fairytale that sees torrid passions ignite through the French Quarter in Wild at Heart, these films all look at love as gateways to both bliss and hell – terrain I’ve charted over and over and over again.
