5 Natural Ways to Prevent Diabetes

By Barbara H. Seeber

A few years ago, my sister discovered she had prediabetes after a routine blood test. For her, daily insulin injections and the health problems that come with diabetes were no mere abstraction. She had been giving our mother insulin shots and taking her to doctors’ appointments for years — and she did not want to travel the same path.

So she began a regimen to avoid getting type 2 diabetes. She lost weight (about 10 percent of her body weight), began daily walks and exercise, and started paying close attention to her diet and caloric intake. To help keep her blood glucose level within a normal range, she also monitors her blood sugar and takes metformin, which targets the body’s insulin resistance rather than increasing insulin production. So far, she has averted full-blown diabetes and its consequences.

My sister is one of 79 million Americans over the age of 20 who have been diagnosed as prediabetic. More sobering statistics, however, are these: 90 percent don’t know they’re at risk and 70 percent will go on to develop diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control(CDC). Even more significant is that type 2 diabetes, which accounts for 95 percent of diabetes cases, is highly preventable.

Insulin is the central, underlying problem in developing diabetes. A hormone produced by the pancreas, insulin moves glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream into liver, muscle, and fat cells. Without insulin, blood glucose levels climb, leading to tissue damage and starving cells.

In type 1 diabetes the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin. In type 2 diabetes the pancreas makes plenty of insulin, but the liver, muscles, and fat cells become insulin-resistant — that is, they fail to respond to insulin. Consequences of chronically high blood sugar are accelerated aging of many tissues, arterial disease, heart disease and heart attack, stroke, eye disease, nerve damage, and poorly healing wounds.

A family history of diabetes makes it particularly important to avoid these risks. Following are some tips and a recipe from 500 Time-tested Home Remedies to help prevent the devastations of the disease:

1. Try mindfulness meditation to reduce stress. The hormones cortisol, epinephrine, and glucagon rise during stress, thereby raising blood glucose and antagonizing insulin.
2. Enjoy an occasional beer or glass of wine. (One drink a day for women, two for men.) Moderate alcohol intake correlates with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
3. Get plenty of sleep. Poor-quality sleep and sleep deprivation increase the risk of obesity and diabetes.
4. Exercise every day. Physical activity improves tissue sensitivity to insulin and weight management.
5. Eat real food rather than processed food. Real food (fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, seeds, and nuts) will help you avoid refined carbohydrates, added sugars, and trans fats — all of which promote unhealthy weight gain and increase the risk of diabetes.

Try This Roasted Veggie Explosion

Fruits and vegetables contain fiber, which slows the absorption of dietary sugars, and many nutrients good for reducing diabetes risks. The World Health Organization recommends eating at least five portions a day to prevent diabetes.

Ingredients
1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, quartered
2 carrots, diced
1 yellow or red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into strips
1 bunch of asparagus, woody bottoms removed
2 beets, peeled and quartered
4 garlic cloves, peeled
¼ cup crushed fresh rosemary
Sea salt (optional)

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray or brush a baking sheet with olive oil. Drizzle the olive oil over the vegetables in a bowl and toss to coat them. Spread the vegetables and garlic evenly across the baking sheet. Sprinkle with the rosemary and sea salt to taste (if using). Roast for 15 minutes and then flip the vegetables and roast for another 10 minutes. They should be browned but not overcooked.

(Collected) 

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10 Shocking Facts About the Bermuda Triangle

Bermuda Triangle is the greatest unsolved mystery of the modern age. Also called Devil's Triangle. 
It is a triangular shaped area in the North Atlantic Ocean, from Bermuda Island to Miami, USA and Puerto Rico. Hundreds of people and numerous boats, ships and planes have disappeared inside this triangle. Reasons given for these disappearances vary from scientific to sheer myth. Here are 10 Shocking facts about Bermuda Triangle : 

1

The Bermuda Triangle is not small. In fact, it is quite large and covers an area of 440,000 miles of sea. This is larger than the combined area of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra. 

2

The triangle is certainly not fixed and its effect can be experienced outside of the triangle too. 

3

The disappearances are ascribed to UFO's and alien activity, city of Atlantis lost under the triangle, and various other technical, natural and geographical reasons. 

4

 Whenever any plane or ship disappears in the Triangle, its debris cannot be found. The reason behind this is that Gulf Stream runs near the triangle, which quickly gets rid of the debris. 

5

At least 1000 lives are lost within the last 100 years. On average, 4 aircraft and 20 yachts go missing every year. 

6

Inside the Bermuda Triangle, US Government has AUTEC (for Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center), which is located on the Andros Island of Bahamas. Here US Navy tests their submarines, sonar and other weapons. However many are of the view that it is more than just the testing center. 

7

People have experienced electronic fog in the triangle, which can be a Time Travel Tunnel too. Pilot Bruce Gernon claims he lost 28 minutes after flying through a time-warping cloud tunnel. The plane went missing from radars, only to re-emerge in Miami Beach. (Source: The Fog by Bruce Gernon.) 

8

One of the biggest and famous losses of US Military occurred in 1945. Five US Navy Avenger torpedo bombers flew from Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a sortie to the island of Bimini. The mission had 14 men. After about 90 minutes, the radio operators received a signal that the compass was not working. After that the communication was lost. The bombers were never found. The three planes that went for their rescue also disappeared. 

9

The first person to report about Bermuda Triangle was Christopher Columbus. He wrote in his journals that inside the triangle, the ship's compass stopped working and he also saw a fireball in the sky.

10

 Bermuda Triangle is one of the rare places on earth where the compass does not point towards Magnetic North. Instead of that, it point towards true north, which creates confusion and that's why so many ships and planes lost its course in the triangle

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The Dog Suicide Bridge

The Overtoun Bridge is an arch bridge located near Milton, Dumbarton, Scotland which was built in 1859 and has become famous for the number of unexplained instances in which dogs have apparently committed suicide by leaping off of it.

The incidents were first recorded around the 1950's or 1960's when it was noticed that dogs - usually the long-nosed variety like Collies - would suddenly and unexpectedly leap off the bridge and fall fifty feet to their deaths.  In some cases, however, the dogs would survive, recuperate, and then leap off the bridge again.  The locals have a name for these dogs: second-timers.

What makes this tragic mystery even more mysterious is that many of the dogs that jump from Overton Bridge jump from the same side and from almost the same spot: between the final two parapets on the right-hand side of the bridge.

But why is this happening?  What would compel otherwise contented canines to leap from the stone structure?

Some believe that the bridge is haunted.  In 1994, a man threw his baby son off the bridge claiming that it was the anti-Christ.  Later, the man attempted suicide there as well.  Was Overton Bridge responsible for this tragic event?

Another theory comes from Celtic beliefs that Overton Bridge is a "thin place" where the barrier between the world of the living and the world of the dead meet and sometimes cross over.  Some believe that dogs are more sensitive to the paranormal and perhaps they are getting spooked by spirits.  In fact, one psychic toured the bridge and, although she admitted that she felt nothing malevolent - only peace, her dog pulled on its leash to the right side of the bridge.

A more rational explanation for the "dog suicides" could be the mink population that resides under the bridge in the brush.  Veterinarians and animal experts have pointed out that a dog, overly excited at the smell of the minks and unable to see over the sides of the bridge, might leap over the side on impulse not realizing that they are on a bridge at all.

Whatever the explanation for the famous Dog Suicide Bridge actually is could be debated for years without satisfaction.  Just take some advise from the locals and keep your best friend on a leash when visiting Overton Bridge.

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10 Characteristics of Wildly Successful People

Some people — Ben Franklin and Steve Jobs jump to my mind — seem born for success. But don’t think the same can’t be said about you.

While we can’t all have our faces on the $100 bill, we can all certainly make our own success. That may not mean earning millions, but it can mean having a pretty darn good life with plenty of cash in the bank to see you until the end of your days.

How do you become successful? It’s simple. You follow the lead of others who already have it made. You see, most successful people share common traits, and they’re really not that hard to duplicate in our own lives.

Following are 10 traits that all successful people have in common. They are:

1. Goal-oriented

You can spend life meandering about, waiting for a job to fall into your lap or that golden opportunity to arrive gift-wrapped at your front door. But you’ll wait a long time, my friend.

Successful people don’t wait for life to happen to them. They have a plan for how they want life to pan out. Then, they set goals for how to make that plan a reality.

We like this quote attributed to industrialist Henry Ford: “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”

It’s a reminder that breaking down those big goals into bite-size pieces can pave the way for success.

2. Persistent

Thomas Edison is famously said to have failed 1,000 times before inventing the light bulb.

Whether that figure is inflated is irrelevant; the point is clear. People who are successful fail, fail and fail again before they succeed.

Abraham Lincoln endured a string of political failures prior to reaching the presidency. Before he became a best-selling novelist, Stephen King was rejected by publishers time after time.

Successful people don’t pack up their toys and head home the first time something doesn’t go their way. Instead, they keep plugging along, and that persistence helps them find success eventually.

3. Inquisitive

For successful people, learning doesn’t end with their formal education. Most understand they don’t possess all the secrets to the universe and strive to become lifelong learners.

Albert Einstein reportedly said, “It is not that I’m so smart. But I stay with the questions much longer.”

Assuming Einstein actually did say that, he might have been a little too modest about his intellectual abilities. However, he makes a good point about success.

Although some wildly successful people are natural brainiacs, most possess the same gray matter as the rest of us. They simply recognize there is more to learn, and that knowledge gives them the tools and resources needed to reach their goals.

4. Self-aware

Along those same lines, let’s take a moment to hear from Socrates: “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing and that is that I know nothing.”

Socrates may have been speaking on the importance of continual learning, but he also offers a reminder on the importance of self-awareness.

The people who find success are the ones who know who they are. They know their abilities and their limitations. As a result, they focus on where they excel, and they surround themselves with people or resources to fill in the gaps where they don’t.

5. Risk-takers

No guts, no glory, right? Some of the world’s biggest successes have come from taking risks.

When the iPhone was introduced, it was a significant risk for Apple. It was a risk for Oprah Winfrey to dump her successful syndicated talk show in favor of starting a cable network. Entrepreneur Richard Branson has made risk-taking his ticket to success even though he had at least 14 failed businesses along the way.

However, these risk-takers aren’t making dumb moves. The risks they take are calculated, and, when they fail, successful people take the time to learn from their own mistakes.

6. Quick-thinking and decisive

Slow and steady may have won the race for the turtle, but it’s not a particularly good strategy when it comes to success.

A lot has been written about how the model of business success is moving from one of stability to transient competitive advantages. In fact, 81 percent of consumer products executives told EY (formerly known as Ernst & Young) that faster decision-making was of critical importance.

However, being decisive is important outside the business world as well. If you stall for years while trying to decide whether to move your family, change careers or go back to school, you lose precious time that could have been used to build up your success. Instead, make your decisions promptly and move forward without looking back.

7. Good communicators

Successful people are also good communicators.

From Frederick Douglass speaking out against slavery to Marissa Mayer laying out a new path for Yahoo, successful people articulate their ideas clearly.

If you’re worried that you’re not an effective communicator, take heart. Even Warren Buffett was at one time terrified of public speaking until he repeatedly practiced and became a master.

8. Enthusiastic

Some people simply ooze enthusiasm. You spend a little time with them and find yourself as geeked about their projects as they are.

Enthusiastic people create success because they’re passionate. They love what they’re doing, and we all naturally gravitate toward those who radiate excitement and self-confidence.

As a result, rather than working alone, this enthusiastic person has garnered a whole tribe of people working toward the same goal .

9. Self-disciplined

The most successful people among us are those who can keep themselves focused and on task, a fact underscored by the well-publicized fact that many high achievers rise each day long before the sun.

Part of their commitment to self-discipline is accountability. Successful people realize that at the end of the day, they alone are responsible for their accomplishments — or failures.

In other words, they have taken Plato’s words to heart: “The first and best victory is to conquer self.”

10. Hard-working

Finally, perhaps the most important characteristic of successful people is that they work hard.

The 2013 U.S. Trust study found that most wealthy individuals reported being self-made. The study surveyed individuals with investable assets of at least $3 million and discovered that only 22 percent said they grew up in affluent households.

That means most financially successfully people didn’t have their money handed to them, they likely worked hard for it.

If you aren’t willing to put in the hours and make some sacrifices, you might as well get accustomed to mediocrity. The best things in life — whether it’s money in the bank or a great relationship with your spouse or child — typically come only with significant effort.

What other characteristics do you think define super-successful people? 

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20 Things You Didn’t Know About The Original Jurassic Park

t’s hard to believe it has been 22 years since the first Jurassic Park hit movie screens around the world, reigniting fear and wonder of the mammoth pre-historic reptiles who once ruled the planet. Now with Jurassic World taking the title of having the biggest domestic opening weekend in box office history, it’s time to take a look back at the film that started it all and 20 things you probably never knew about the groundbreaking film.

1. The movie may have a run time of 127 minutes but there are only approximately 15 minutes of dinosaur footage.

2. Christina Ricci auditioned for the part of Lex.

3. If you look closely, when Nedry communicates with the dock via webcam, it’s just a Quicktime video playing on screen.

4. Thanks to the rain, the animatronic T-Rex began to routinely short circuit and ‘come alive’ on its own.

5. Stars Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern found romance on-set and were engaged after Jurassic Park. Unfortunately after two years the pair broke off the engagement and split up.

6. The scene in which Sam Neill’s character, Grant uses a flare to get the T-Rex’s attention ended in injury. “It dropped some burning phosphorous on me and got under my watch and took a chunk of my arm out.” he said.

7. Not wanting to put a very young girl in a life or death movie situation, director, Steven Spielberg reversed the ages of the children. In the original novel, Tim is the older sibling, so he made Lex the older sister to Tim.

8. The rippling effect in the cup of water during the film’s iconic T-Rex is coming scene was made by strumming a guitar string that was attached under the dashboard beneath the glass.

9. The T-Rex sound effects were a combination of an elephant trumpeting, penguin mating sounds, as well as dog, tiger, and alligator noises.

10. When T-Rex comes through the roof of the Explorer, the child actors’ screams were real, as the glass wasn’t meant to break.

11. The original script for Jurassic Park 4 involved genetically engineered dinos who could be trained to carry weapons and take part in battle.

12. While filming on location in Hawaii, Hurricane Iniki—the most powerful hurricane to hit Hawaii in recorded history—happened.

13. While Steven Spielberg enlisted paleontologists to consult on the film to make sure he wasn’t straying from real-life evolution, he didn’t always take their advice.

14. Once filming wrapped, Spielberg hired on George Lucas for post-production responsibilities so he could turn his attention to working on his next film,

15. Spielberg learned about author Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park idea before the 1990 book was finished and won the film rights before it was even published.

16. Nicolas Cage played a pivotal role in Laura Dern’s decision to be in the movie. 

The offer came in hot on the heels of finishing Wild at Heart with Cage, although she was skeptical, he insisted she do it because, “no one can ever say no to a dinosaur movie!”

17. It took seven puppeteers to operate the eyes, mouth, stomach and other body parts of the sick Triceratops. During filming a puppeteer was hidden in the tail of the giant dino.

18. Speaking of the Triceratops, the scene in which Laura Dern’s character sticks her hand in the dino poo is seemingly the most famous of her career. The most common question asked of her by fans is “Are you the lady that stuck her hand in dinosaur poop?”

19. Screenwriter Davis Koepp says the idea of animated Mr. DNA was the direct result of a sarcastic comment. 

“I remember Steven [Spielberg] and I were wrestling with that very issue, about the DNA, and one of us said, ‘What are we supposed to do? Have a little animated character called Mr. DNA?’ And the other one said, ‘Yes! That’s exactly what we’re going to do!’”

20. In the final scene, the Jurassic Park logo on the jeep is covered in mud and spells out “UR ASS PARK,” as joke to imply “you’re lucky to get out with your ass in one piece.”

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Most Popular Hybrid Cars

Hybrid vehicles, or more specifically hybrid-electric cars, have been the centre of debate since the first models made their debut back in the 1990s. Environmental activists advocated reduced emissions of greenhouse gases. On the other hand, critiques claimed that these cars were not really that cost-effective.

Hybrid vehicles use two or more different power sources that work together in order to create power. While there is a wide assortment of vehicles that run on hybrid power sources today, cars enjoy the most popularity among consumers. With elegant brands, such as Toyota Prius making great headway in hybrid technology, these hybrid machines are here to stay.

Some of the top hybrid automobiles in the market today use plug-in electric technology. The owner gets to charge the car battery by plugging it into an electric outlet. This allows for an even greater output of electrical power, leading to greater preservation of gasoline for the drive. The regenerative braking system on the model offers an even greater thrust of electrical power derived from braking and coasting.

Hybrid cars can rightly be termed the transportation machines of the future. Thinking of buying one?

1. TOYOTA PRIUS

The sleek and affordable Toyota Prius is unquestionably a top player in the market. Sales of the plug-in electric car have surpassed a whopping 3 million cars, with 2014 proceeds already reporting close to 5 million. What makes the Prius so special? It’s easy to drive, contains ample cargo space, a touch-screen infotainment system and much more. The fully-loaded versions of the brand even come with automatic self-parking system and adaptive cruise control. Its cost-effective price and high fuel efficiency makes it an all-time favorite of environmentalists. With power sunroof, updated traffic information, navigation systems and high quality JBL sound system, what’s there not to love about the Prius 2014?

2. HONDA ACCORD HYBRID 2015

The 2015 version of Honda Accord hybrid is a great option for someone looking for an affordable mid-sized hybrid car. With precision steering, ample leg space and generous amount of trunk space, this hybrid car makes good competition to Prius. Reviewers are satisfied with its infotainment display and delighted with the hands-free texting feature. Automatic climate control, a USB port, satellite radio, lane departure and forward collision warnings make this model truly unique. Many industry experts cite that this model has what it takes to make Honda a serious contender in the hybrid market, while Toyota invariably leading the pack. Driving this sedan is a breeze as the responsive steering and phenomenal cruise control makes it a reliable option for families.

3. TOYOTA CAMRY HYBRID

With reported sales of 21,466 cars in 2012,  Camry is priced slightly above $30,000. A family sedan, this model of hybrid car is best known for its smooth transition of power from gasoline to electric even at high speeds. Whereas its acceleration is commendable, the Camry suffers in fuel economy department compared to Prius and Ford fusion hybrids.

The 2015 model was revamped to contain opulent interiors and better visibility for the driver. It also comprises standard features, such as climate control, sunroof, JBL speakers, adaptive cruise control and smart app navigation system. Definitely worth a look if you wish to drive at high speed.

4. FORD FUSION HYBRID

Ford Fusion is widely known for its seamless transition between gas to electric power and vice-versa. Most reviewers reporting comfortable seating and smooth driving experience. Apart from responsive driving, the Ford Fusion is to known to provide a myriad of driver assistance options, which make driving a breeze. Automatic headlights, a sync system that can be trigged by the driver’s voice, and option of parental control for volume and speed makes this beauty one of the top hybrid vehicles. However, the infotainment system is a bust with many drivers reporting that it isn’t user-friendly. Still, this Ford model is a feasible option for those seeking a comfortable driving experience.

5. TOYOTA AVALON

Toyota Avalon has all the features that any typical  hybrid car has, but what makes it different is its palatial interiors. Using some of the finest of materials, Toyota has created a visually-appealing design that will impress your family members, friends and colleagues. It is extremely comfortable and has more than sufficient room for passengers.  Fuel economy is average and most drivers are content with this hybrid vehicle. Other standard features include Bluetooth audio streaming, 6.1-inch touch-screen display, a USB port, 8 speakers from JBL and adaptive cruise control.

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Top 10 romantic movies

10. Jules et Jim

 Courtesy of BFI

Jules et Jim was the biggest box-office success the French New Wave ever enjoyed. When it opened in Paris in January 1962, it played for nearly three months and it found the same crowds all over the world. (In America, two young men saw it – Robert Benton and David Newman – and they began to write a script that would become Bonnie and Clyde.) Although set in the era of the first world war, its sexual manners were an indicator of the 60s to come, with Catherine (Jeanne Moreau) in love with and loved by two men (at least) – Jules, a German, played by Oskar Werner, and Jim, a Frenchman, played by Henri Serre.

The way Jules et Jim emerged was a tribute to Moreau and to Truffaut's obsession with the idea that women were magical. It's an early dramatisation of feminist principles, but it's also the portrait of a bipolar personality drawn to self-destruction. For Truffaut, it was a perfect balancing act between wry observation and sentimental involvement with his own characters. The period material, the sets and costumes, work very well in a wide-screen format, but in truth it's the lethally mercurial temperament of Moreau that holds it all together. She was at her peak in the early 60s, young enough to be sexually compelling, but wise enough to be a tragic witch. Along with its less famous sequel, Two English Girls, this is Truffaut at his best. David Thomson

9. A Room With a View

 Everett Collection / Rex Feature/Everett Collection / Rex Feature

Few collaborations are so distinctive that the names of those involved come to denote a genre, rather than just a credit. A Room With a View, the first of director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant's EM Forster adaptations, was shot before the term Merchant-Ivory had become an insult; watch it today and you'll blush to have ever smirked at the cliche. This is incredibly fresh and arresting film-making: moving and amusing, swooningly romantic and socially ferocious – nothing less than a full-frontal (in every way) assault on your soul.

Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) is on a Baedeker-led tour of Florence with punctilious cousin Charlotte (Maggie Smith) when she encounters, at their pensione, free-thinking Mr Emerson (Denholm Elliott) and his dreamy son, George (Julian Sands). Through a series of bloody physical confrontations and, worse yet, sticky etiquette breaches, Lucy's desire for emotional freedom starts to bubble, coming to the boil when George kisses her in a cornfield. But Charlotte witnessed the snog, so Lucy is whisked back to Surrey, where she gets engaged to the horribly priggish Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day-Lewis), to the polite distaste of her family, and the Rev Beebe (Simon Callow, uncharacteristically subtle). Then the Emersons reappear …

What might have been starched and talky in other hands comes out of the wash alive with spring and spirit. The botched embrace between Lucy and Cecil, and the heartbreaking moment when he, after being rejected, puts his boots back on, are once seen, never forgotten. Smith's Charlotte – so funny as a curmudgeonly drag ("The ground will do for me," she says, as cushions are assigned on a picnic, "I haven't had rheumatism for years. And if I do feel a twinge, I shall stand up") – is just tragic alone, as Lucy might well have been, had her story not had such a happy ending. The final scene, a ravishing in a room, with a view, as the bells of Florence chime out, would leave only a stone unmoved. Catherine Shoard

8. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

 Ronald Grant Archive

Boy meets girl. They fall in love. Girl gets fed up with boy. Girl erases all memories of boy from her mind in a dubious brain-zapping procedure. Boy finds out and does the same. This is a romantic movie, Charlie Kaufman-style. It takes its title from a 1717 poem by Alexander Pope and charts the side of love that movies usually try to ignore: the arguments, the boredom, the irritating habits that drive couples apart and the dreadful, stilted moments that accompany a break-up. Love Actually, it ain't.

As you would expect from the writer of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, this is not the story of a doomed relationship told in a straightforward fashion. Joel Barish is a withdrawn, greyish man, played with uncharacteristic restraint byJim Carrey. Clementine Kruczynski (a brilliant Kate Winslet) is free-spirited, reckless and prone to dying her hair blue. When they meet on a train travelling through wintry Long Island in the film's opening scenes, it's as if they've never met before – but of course they have. The strange attraction that draws them together is down to the fact that, until very recently, they were lovers. Their forgetting is the work of Lacuna Inc, a shady New York company that liberates its clients from unwanted memories.

Eternal Sunshine was Kaufman's second collaboration with Michel Gondry. The resourceful French director proved the perfect match to Kaufman's freewheeling script, which puts us inside Joel's memories as they are being stripped away. The film's concept – that a couple can delete each other after a painful break-up so they can live on in blissful ignorance – seems at first a pessimistic take on love. But chinks of light begin to shine through as Joel's memories of Clementine are systematically sought out and zapped. He recalls that, before the unhappiness set in, there were genuinely happy moments too and he recaptures (too late?) what made them fall for each other in the first place. In spite of all its pitfalls, Kaufman still makes love seem like the most precious thing in the world. Killian Fox

7. Hannah and Her Sisters

 Ronald Grant Archive

That Chekhovian title may have promised Woody Allen at his most pretentious, but this 1986 roundelay grossed $40m and became his biggest ever box-office hit. The film shuffles interconnecting storylines concerning three Manhattan sisters: the warm, well-meaning Hannah (Mia Farrow) is married to the bumbling Elliot (Michael Caine), who is in turn attracted to her sister, Lee (Barbara Hershey). As an affair begins between the two, Lee's own relationship with the tormented artist Frederick (Max von Sydow) comes under strain, and light is brought to an otherwise dark canvas by Hannah's ex-husband, fussbudget TV producer Mickey (Allen), who becomes involved with Hannah's other sister, the jittery Holly (Dianne Wiest).

So what was it about Hannah that made it so successful? The balance of comedy and drama is deftly maintained, and there's a palatable, soapy aspect to Elliot and Lee's affair. The film, with its chapter headings, aspires to a novelistic structure, each part favouring a different character or storyline. And the performances are uniformly subtle, especially from Caine (who won the Oscar for best supporting actor) and the underrated Farrow, who was then an Allen regular as well as his off-screen partner. Indeed, Farrow brings genuine mystery to a nurturing figure who may not be as saintly as she seems. "Hannah was a character neither Mia nor I understood, at the start, and at the finish," Allen admitted. "We could never figure out whether Hannah was the bulwark of the family and the spine who held everyone together, or whether Hannah was not so nice … Mia looked to me for guidance and I could never give it to her."

Typically, the perfectionist director was far from pleased with the movie. "Hannah and Her Sisters is a film I feel I screwed up very badly," he said later. It was the relatively happy ending that was to blame: "That was the part that killed me." But after all the characters have been through in pursuit of love and contentment, you couldn't say they hadn't earned it. Ryan Gilbey

6. The Apartment

 Everett Collection / Rex Feature/Everett Collection / Rex Feature

Fresh off Some Like It Hot, director Billy Wilder, his co-writer IAL Diamond, and their star, Jack Lemmon, bowled straight into making The Apartment. Two perfect comedies in a row: how's that for a double whammy? The germ of the idea for The Apartment had actually sat in Wilder's notebook for many years, ever since he watched Brief Encounter and scribbled down the words "Movie about the guy who climbs into the warm bed left by two lovers."

CC "Bud" Baxter (Lemmon) is the poor sap in question. He's rising fast at work, one promotion after another, but the secret of his success is that he loans out his apartment to the company executives for their trysts, one 45-minute slot at a time. It's a sleazy little set-up, and Wilder keeps the movie galloping along so briskly that we can overlook the unpleasantness at first. But then reality starts to creep in as Baxter realises that the woman he longs to bring home in his arms – chirpy elevator assistant Fran Kubelik (Shirley MacLaine) – has already been to his apartment, in the company of his boss (Fred MacMurray). The question of how Baxter finds out allows Wilder and Diamond to demonstrate their knack for succinct storytelling: one broken compact mirror is all it takes to make his heart break. They're unbeatable at turning out these "moments" – witness also Baxter's classic straining-spaghetti-through-a-tennis-racket scene, born out of Diamond's realisation that "Women love seeing a man trying to cook in the kitchen."

Such stand-out scenes never impede the film's precise, fluid rhythm. Wilder shot the picture in 50 days flat, and edited it in under a week. "We had three feet of unused film," he said proudly. This is funny, fat-free film-making, expertly paced and played, ending in a romantic flourish to swoon over. It won five Academy Awards, including best picture, best director and best screenplay. Wilder said it was "the picture [of mine] that has the fewest faults." Everyone else knows it as a masterpiece. RG

5. In the Mood for Love

 The Ronald Grant Archive

Wong Kar-wai takes his time shooting a film, setting out without a conventional script and waiting to see where the mood takes him; his actors rarely have possession of the bigger picture. As it turned out, this is a sizzling romance about two cuckolded next-door neighbours (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung) who fall in love with one another. As rendered by Wong's regular cinematographer, Christopher Doyle (and his replacement, Mark Lee Ping-bin, who took over when the shooting schedule overran), the lush colours on screen are mellowed with nostalgia and ripened by sensuality.

As much as this is the story of love blossoming out of rejection, it is also a testament to its director's ongoing infatuation with cinema. What he can do with a passage of music, a close-up or an adjustment in film speed makes most other directors look unfit to shoot a nativity play. Doyle observes the tentative encounters from behind lamps and cabinets, or from under a bed. If you didn't already know this cinematographer's work, you might assume Wong had hired a private detective for the job, so skilful are the furtive compositions.

It is an unorthodox romance, widely regarded as the director's finest work. And it is as impeccably turned out as you would expect from a Wong film. Audiences might well emerge craving props and costumes featured in the movie – the silk and gossamer dresses worn with perfect Audrey Hepburn poise by the regal Cheung, or the brilliantine that gives Leung his authentic Clark Gable sheen, or the snazzy noodle-flasks with which these almost-lovers collect their supper from a basement cafe. Unlike its 2004 semi-sequel, 2046, there is more here than just style. A heartbreaking final scene more than substantiates the idea that it is a Brief Encounter for the 21st century. RG

4. Breathless (A Bout de Souffle)

 INTERFOTO / Alamy/Alamy

In 1946, Humphrey Bogart had played "Bogey" in The Big Sleep, alongside his wife-to-be, Lauren Bacall, a sexy daughter available for marriage. Maybe the Hollywood dream never had a purer, crazier manifestation. But here we are, 15 years later: Bogart is dead and, worse, his Hollywood has entered its funeral years. And then arrives Jean-Luc Godard, half in love with that old mythology, half contemptuous of it. So Jean-Paul Belmondo, a magnificent jerk, will model himself on Bogey and take off.

Breathless was Godard's first feature, and his first demonstration of how to turn the raiment of the Hollywood dream inside out. In addition to putting Godard's love-hate relationship with Hollywood up on the wall like graffiti, it was a signal that movies could be made nearly as quickly and cheaply as we might write emails. So it's important to remember that while Breathless still feels desperately modern, it was made before the machinery of our modern culture.

It was done from a four-page outline, on about $48,000, with a quarter of that paying for Jean Seberg, a failure in Hollywood, but the hip new thing in Paris in 1960. She's Patricia, an American who sells the New York Herald Tribune on the streets, and Belmondo is Michel, an existentialist idiot on the run after he shoots a cop. His days are numbered and the film moves like a Charlie Parker solo – so hectic you wonder if the alto sax will live out the next 16 bars. There's no way it should work, being made up as they went along, but Godard knew it was time to treat the audience like dirt and his characters like shit. This casual malice turned into a monument nonetheless. DT

3. Before Sunrise/Before Sunset/Before Midnight

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An American man and a French woman in their early 20s meet on a train heading through Europe. They alight in Vienna, amble around for 14 hours and shoot the breeze. Yes, the plot of Before Sunrise could be written on the back of a Eurail ticket, but it's what Celine (Julie Delpy) and Jesse (Ethan Hawke) say and don't say during their Austrian walkabout that makes the film what it is: a gentle but canny Gen-X fusion of My Dinner With Andre and the Judy Garland shore-leave romance, The Clock.

As the soon-to-be lovers chat, show off, lark around and kiss, with director Linklater's camera a tender and unobtrusive companion, a sense of yearning bubbles up in the movie: we sense time slipping away, and the dawn approaching. When the morning arrives, and the time comes to part, Celine and Jesse promise to meet again in Vienna in six months' time; in that pre-Facebook era, the arrangement had a heartbreaking fragility.

For the 2004 sequel, Before Sunset, we find Jesse, now a writer enjoying success with a novel about a one-night stand, bumping into Celine in Paris. The couple steal away on a stroll around the city, but things have changed. No longer hopeful young things with life spread out before them, Jesse and Celine must now confess to disappointments and resentments. Even the span of their conversation is cramped; they only have 80-or-so minutes (played out in the film in real time) before Jesse must return to his wife and child in the US. Out of this melancholy scenario comes an honest but affectionate portrait of an amorphous romance – not to mention one of the most tantalising and ingenious endings in all cinema.

And then, just shy of a decade later, came the third, Before Midnight. To those looking for a happy ending: in the interim, they became a proper couple, living in Paris, but together on a writer's retreat in Greece. Their cares and preoccupations are those of the early middle-aged – children, exes, disappointment – but miraculously, marvellously, they never become careworn. RG

2. Casablanca

 Allstar

The unspoken tremor in most wartime movie romances is that the picture needs to address the feelings of couples separated by war. It's not just whether they will both survive, but whether love and desire can overcome the temptations that come with separate lives. There's another element at work (vital to romance and the age of censorship in the movies) which is that desire may mean the most when it cannot be consummated: the wish for intimacy is so intense because the act is forbidden or impossible.

In Casablanca, we assume that Rick (Humphrey Bogart) and Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman) had a good deal of sex in Paris, but in their awkward reunion in north Africa, sex is not renewed. Rather, the triangle of Rick-Ilsa-Victor (Paul Henreid) must contemplate the ultimate selection of just two of them to go forward. And we know now what Rick's decision is, even if in our enlightened time we may ask whether Ilsa shouldn't have been doing some of the deciding. But the romantic or erotic energy is sublimated in the most impeccable cause of all – the war effort. Rick forsakes Ilsa as part of his new commitment to the fight against fascism.

Casablanca stands for movie romance in great part because it is hardly true to life. It won the best picture Oscar and seemed to be history coming to life – it opened just after the allies had occupied the real Casablanca. In fact, divorce and infidelity rates increased rapidly during the war. But Casablanca reassured us all; it promised that honour was intact. DT

1. Brief Encounter

 PR

How many other countries would pick Brief Encounter as the best movie romance of all time? But for a generation that remembers when the trains ran on time and station buffets were as tidy and inviting as the one in this movie, Brief Encounter is etched in nostalgia for an era when trapped middle-class lives contemplated adultery but set the disturbing thought aside. On the face of it, it would seem that Britain has changed; but is it possible that the David Lean-Noël Coward film is still the model for repressed feelings as an English ideal? We are accustomed to attributing films to directors, but it's only proper to regard Coward as an equal author of this movie. He wrote the script, taking it from his own one-act play, Still Life. He made the leads "nice" people (Laura and Alec, a housewife and a doctor) and the supporting characters clear-cut English types – Stanley Holloway as the naughty, good-hearted station master and Joyce Carey as the bossy, buffet manageress, as well as Cyril Raymond who is quite exquisite as Laura's husband, Fred, a decent dullard who senses that his wife has "been away" but cannot dream of what she has been up to or how close they have all come to disaster.

It is Coward's preference, too, that family and stability are so respected in this film. Never married, and discreetly gay, Coward knew enough not to offend middle-class propriety. David Lean, on the other hand, was raised a strict Quaker and was always in rebellion against restraint – so he was married six times and, on his own, he might have pushed Laura and Alec a degree or two further than made Coward comfortable. If that sounds odd, you have to remember the extent to which Lean was Coward's protege. The young editor had been noticed by Coward and promoted to help direct and then take over directing In Which We Serve, This Happy Breed, Blithe Spirit and finally Brief Encounter.

So the relationship that begins at the Milford railway station (it's two metaphorical stops down the line from Borchester – The Archers began five years after Brief Encounter) with a piece of grit in Laura's eye and Alec's unquestionably clean handkerchief will lead to afternoons together, lunch and a visit to the cinema (their silly movie is called Flames of Passion), a country drive, and an awkward trip to a friend's flat (the supercilious Valentine Dyall). Nothing happens, and Alec will soon take his family to a new job in South Africa – in 1945 that was still a destination of some hope.

"Nothing happens" is hardly a motto for movies today. But at the end of the second world war, when cinemas were packed, desire on the screen was fabulously (and sometimes hysterically) inflamed by self-denial, shyness and censorship. It's an open question, of course, but consider the possibility that movie romance, and its dream of desire, were stimulated by the various controls that blocked abandon. Those devices include our innocence. In 1945, there wasn't a hint of irony or parody in the film's pounding Rachmaninov score (the second piano concerto, played to the hilt by Eileen Joyce).

Today, the set-up begs for satire. But Brief Encounter has survived such threats, because it is so well made, because Laura's voiceover narration is truly anguished and dreamy, because the music suckers all of us, and because Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard are perfect. I realise, "perfect" seems dangerously prim and old-hat, an ultimate proof of hopeless gentility. But that's not fair. Howard could be a wild man – as we know from his later work – and you feel recklessness and revolution as a wind tugging at him.

As for Celia Johnson, it is due largely to her that the film is still so moving. Her agony and her rapture stay interior, and they flip-flop like nerves in this beautiful, grave black-and-white movie. Her voice is measured but the eyes are desperate. That she holds the film together is beyond doubt.

Source: The Guardian

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