Luv

Luv

Year: 1967

Runtime: 93 mins

Language: English

Director: Clive Donner

RomanceComedy

In this darkly comic tale, depressed by his life's direction, Harry plans to end it by leaping from the Manhattan Bridge, but an old friend, successful broker Milt Manville, stops him at the last moment. Milt, disillusioned with his argumentative wife Ellen, impulsively pairs her with Harry, hoping they will fall in love and solve both their woes.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Luv (1967)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Luv (1967). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

1960s

The story unfolds in a contemporary mid-20th-century setting, with 1960s fashion, social mores, and nightlife shaping the characters' behavior. The era's casual attitudes toward marriage and romance provide a satirical backdrop to the comedy and heartbreak. The timeframe grounds the characters' schemes and social dynamics in a recognizable historical moment.

Location

New York, Niagara Falls

Set primarily in New York City, with a key romantic sequence at Niagara Falls. The urban spaces include a department store, apartments, a Japanese restaurant, and a bridge where pivotal moments unfold. The setting juxtaposes everyday city life with a dramatic travel sequence that underlines the film's themes of love and conflict.

🏙️ Urban 🗺️ Iconic

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:09

Main Characters – Luv (1967)

Meet the key characters of Luv (1967), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Harry Berlin (Jack Lemmon)

A barely functional, immature man who is pulled into the lives of his friends and enemies. He oscillates between despair and reckless optimism, testing Ellen's love by provocative acts and stubborn resilience. His vacillating behavior and theatrical tics drive the couple's push-pull dynamics and eventually land him in a new, unstable partnership.

🎭 Charismatic 🌀 Impulsive 💬 Childish

Ellen Manville (Elaine May)

Milt's long-suffering wife who complains about her sex life yet falls for Harry, sparking a rapid, chaotic romance. She navigates conflicting loyalties, ultimately re-evaluating love and marriage as she and Milt scheme to keep their relationships intact. Her pragmatism clashes with her growing, complicated feelings.

💪 Strong-willed ❤️ Passionate 🧭 Pragmatic

Milt Manville (Peter Falk)

A boastful, sharp-witted friend who narrates his own success while orchestrating others' lives. He secretly maintains a lover and eventually faces the consequences of his manipulations as Ellen and Linda become entangled with his plans. His economic and personal maneuvering propels the central love-triangle into escalating chaos.

💼 Ambitious 🌀 Calculated 🗣️ Charismatic

Linda (Nina Wayne)

The glamorous blonde fitness instructor who is the ex-lover of Milt. She re-enters the story as a tempting catalyst for Harry and the others, later navigating shifts in relationships as the couples struggle with commitment. Her presence exposes the volatility and speed of midlife romance.

💃 Flirtatious 🧭 Practical 🧠 Insightful

Irate Motorist (Harrison Ford)

An uncredited cameo that punctuates the film with a moment of comic irritation, reflecting the era's quick-to-anger urban archetype. The character embodies a casual disruption that frames the social satire of modern dating. His brief appearance punctuates the film's tone.

🚗 Abrasive 🫡 Brief 🗯️ Exit

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:09

Major Themes – Luv (1967)

Explore the central themes of Luv (1967), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💞 Love Triad

A tangled web of affection binds Harry, Ellen, Milt, and Linda, driving the plot through attraction, manipulation, and desire for stability. Each character tests commitment by provoking conflict and vulnerability. The film uses humor to critique how romantic needs morph into strategic moves within a marriage.

🎭 Marriage Games

The couple's relationship is less about romance and more about performance, control, and improvisation. Partners barter loyalty and jealousy as if staging a social drama for an audience. The narrative exposes the fragility of vows when convenience and ego clash.

🌀 Manipulation

Milt and Ellen manipulate Harry's loyalties to serve their own ends, turning love into a battlefield. The plan to steer Harry back into a marriage illustrates how desire for security overrides honesty. The characters deploy calculated moves, revealing the costs of strategic affection.

🌉 Bridge Fate

Key moments occur around a bridge and the Niagara Falls honeymoon, symbolizing precarious choices that could derail lives. The scene dynamics hinge on risk, miscommunication, and rescue, echoing the broader tension between dependency and freedom. The bridge becomes a literal and metaphorical crossing point for the couples.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 19:09

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Movies with dark comedy and unconventional relationships like Luv

Stories where flawed characters try to solve their problems with desperate, messy romance.If you enjoyed the darkly comedic and bittersweet vibe of Luv, this thread features movies with similar themes of desperate characters orchestrating messy romances. These stories balance awkward humor with the genuine emotional fallout of flawed relationship experiments, perfect for fans of quirky, character-driven narratives.

quirkyawkwardmelancholicdesperatereflectiveabsurdanxious

Narrative Summary

These narratives often begin with a character in a state of desperation or disillusionment who concocts a misguided plan to fix their life, usually involving manipulating the relationships of others. The plot follows the chaotic chain reaction of this plan, blending slapstick or absurd situations with moments of poignant emotional reflection as characters confront their flaws.

Why These Movies?

They are grouped together by their unique tonal blend of bittersweet melancholy and dark, situational humor, their focus on midlife crises and emotional endurance, and their shared narrative pattern of desperate characters attempting to control fate through unconventional relationships.

Bittersweet character dramas with moral complexity like Luv

Character-driven dramas where imperfect choices lead to nuanced, imperfect resolutions.For viewers who appreciated the nuanced ending and moral ambiguities of Luv, this collection features movies where characters navigate emotional manipulation and flawed choices. These stories culminate in bittersweet resolutions that offer a sense of hope without ignoring the scars of the journey, perfect for fans of emotionally mature dramas.

bittersweetreflectivemelancholiccomplexemotionalmaturehopefulimperfect

Narrative Summary

The narrative follows characters who, driven by desperation or a desire for change, engage in emotionally manipulative or ethically gray behavior. The story explores the consequences of these actions, not through simple punishment, but through a gradual coming-to-terms, resulting in an ending that acknowledges both the pain caused and the possibility of a fragile, new beginning.

Why These Movies?

They share a specific emotional arc that concludes with a bittersweet feel, a moderate level of narrative complexity stemming from character-driven moral dilemmas, and a steady pacing that allows for reflection on the consequences of the characters' actions.

Unlock the Full Story of Luv

Don't stop at just watching — explore Luv in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Luv is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Luv Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Luv, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Luv Summary

Luv Timeline

Track the full timeline of Luv with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Luv Timeline

Luv Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Luv that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

Luv Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Luv

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Luv: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About Luv

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