This is war - 10 best paintings about the confrontation between spouses (11 photos)

Love is a Beautiful Thing. Romance is great. A wedding is a holiday. But life, alas, sometimes throws up bitter pills - recent lovers turn into the most cruel opponents because of little things.





10. American Divorce/ The Break-Up (2006)



The comedy melodrama “Divorce, American Style” in the most accurate undertones shows a situation that is well known to all of us - one tiny quarrel out of nowhere, if not stopped in time, can develop into a war, and then into a break-up, which will hit both sides painfully. The characters of Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in this film fell deeply in love with each other and seemed like an ideal couple, but intransigence and unwillingness to understand the other gradually turned their lives into squabbles. The movie is funny, the situation is scary.

9. Devils/ Diabolique (1996)





The American thriller “She-Devils” is a remake of the French film of the same name, but it is in the Hollywood version that the inner world of an unhappy marriage and the vicious relationship of the two main characters is most gloomily shown. The women here find themselves victims of an oppressive husband and lover and are ultimately forced to band together to pay a terrible price for the right to breathe freely. However, the confrontation did not end with the murder of the tyrant - the film is only called “Devils”, the real devil here hides in a man.

8. The First Wives Club (1996)



The classic comedy “The First Wives Club” deserves attention beyond any stated theme of the film - the acting ensemble alone is beyond praise. But since we are talking about the confrontation between spouses, it is worth noting that “The Club” is a true anthem of feminism of the 1990s. The main characters seemed to get married successfully, but after some time, all three women found themselves in the same situation - their husbands cheated on them with young mistresses. The friends not only declared war on the infidels, they turned it into a springboard into a new life.

7. A Perfect Murder (1998)



Frederick Knott's play “The Telephone Call” about the confrontation between two spouses was filmed several times - Alfred Hitchcock based his film “Dial M for Murder” on its basis, and in the USSR the adaptation was called “The Mistake of Tony Wendice.” In the context of the theme of the selection, we brought to the fore the 1998 version, called “The Perfect Murder.” The confrontation between husband and wife, each of whom has long considered the other half a burden, gradually develops into planning murders. The only question is who will strike first.

6. Mr. and Mrs. Smith/ Mr. &Mrs. Smith (2005)



The action comedy Mr. and Mrs. Smith is probably the first thing that comes to mind when it comes to films in which spouses fight each other to the death. And it’s hard to argue here - the film really turned out to be bright and exciting, and Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the roles of ardent lovers forced to take opposite sides of the barricades are miraculously good (despite the fact that in reality their couple has long broken up). A pinch of humor, a little romance, a great soundtrack and a sea of ​​explosions - watch, but not repeat.

5. The War of the Roses (1989)



The original title of the film “War of the Roses” refers the English-speaking viewer to the medieval long-term confrontation, in fact, also generated by the conflict within the royal family - to the War of the Scarlet and White Roses. Unlike the British, the heroes of the film did not need to divide the country, but after 30 years of marriage, the couple acquired a decent mansion, a collection of antiques, furniture, and pets. Divorce entails division of property, and this is where the real war begins with attempts to destroy each other. Terribly funny.

4. Death Becomes Her (1992)



Strictly speaking, the black comedy “Death Becomes Her” is much more about the confrontation between two women claiming the right to possess one man, but Bruce Willis’s hero in this war is far from a silent pawn. Moreover, it is a man’s disagreement with his wife that sets off a chain of incredible events; in a fit of anger, he pushes his wife down the stairs, and she breaks her neck. The comic turmoil within the love triangle not only amuses, but also demonstrates the achievements of the Hollywood special effects industry.

3. The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (1989)



It is naive to approach Peter Greenaway’s drama “The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover” with a one-dimensional yardstick - this is an example of a multi-layered arthouse narrative, a parable wrapped in a tragicomedy, a detective story that digs deeper than any psychologists. If we isolate the relationship between the spouses from the complicated plot, then the abyss of their hatred for each other will open before us. The wife easily cheats on her husband, he, in a fit of revenge, kills her lover, the humiliated woman arranges a terrible act of retribution. Everything is like in life, but darker and scarier.

2. Marriage Story (2019)



The most modern and relevant picture on the topic of confrontation between spouses is Noah Baumbach’s drama “Marriage Story”, awarded with many individual and industrial prizes. As it should be in a postmodern society, the war here is waged not by a husband and wife who are on the verge of divorce, but by their lawyers and lawyers profiting from the misfortune of their recent lovers. Outside of official meetings, the former spouses even seem ready to agree to a truce, but the flywheel of the conflict has already picked up speed, and this breaks the hearts that are still capable of love.

1. Kramer vs. Kramer/ Kramer vs. Kramer (1979)



At the top of this pyramid of wars I would like to place a picture in which ex-spouses set out on the path of irreconcilable conflict. The main characters of the drama “Kramer vs. Kramer” were tired of life’s routine, but their separation hit their common son the hardest. Gradually, the child becomes both the desired goal of the divorce process and a problem, since upbringing is poor for both parties. A war between adults should not traumatize children, but there is no other way in this world - the film talks about how painful it is for everyone.