Depressing, yet beautiful movies...

Malevolence · 18 Jan 2017 at 06:00

Dead Man's Shoes
Apocalypse Now
Schindler's List
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

wolfie138 · 18 Jan 2017 at 07:37

The Saint of Fort Washington.

With Honours.

SixTwoSix · 18 Jan 2017 at 08:15

titaniumx3 said:
Not sure if it's exactly depressing, but Interstellar was beautiful and sad at the same time. The "don't let me leave murph" scene had me bawling like a baby.

I think it counts, whenever I hear Zimmer's "Cornfield Chase" I immediately get a lump in my throat.

Rifte · 18 Jan 2017 at 08:38

Plague Dogs......

I find this upsetting more than Watership Down. Every time I see the ending I tear up a little.

DrToffnar · 18 Jan 2017 at 09:17

rdb2012 said:
the notebook?

People look down on it and find it a touch ubiquitous these days, but it's a great flick.

Also, gotta give No Country For Old Men a shout. One of my all time favourite adaptions.

"But, I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet somethin' I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He'd have to say: 'O.K., I'll be part of this world."

Also, The Fly!!!

"I'm an insect who dreamt he was a man, and loved it. But now the dream is over...and the insect is awake."

One of my favourite quotes. Been trying to work it into a tattoo for the last 2 years :/

AHarvey · 18 Jan 2017 at 09:54

Forrest Gump always hits me right in the feels too..

The jenny death scene and the bit where he meets his child, but that maybe down to issues around my own childhood and losing that connection with my own dad due to the divorce.

Bubo · 18 Jan 2017 at 10:15

Casualties of War. Pretty much the whole film is depressing but the euphoric attempted escape scene immediately followed by one of the most horrific murders I've seen on film a minute later, really does amplify the whole feeling of utter bleakness both before and after this point. That moment was definitely the saddest I've ever been watching a film. And you only really get a scrap of closure at the end.

Junglist · 18 Jan 2017 at 12:06

titaniumx3 said:
Not sure if it's exactly depressing, but Interstellar was beautiful and sad at the same time. The "don't let me leave murph" scene had me bawling like a baby.

I actually came back to post this. The scene where he has years of video-logs to catch up on broke me down. First time I ever got watery eyes in a cinema.

DrToffnar · 18 Jan 2017 at 13:53

JunglistE said:
I actually came back to post this. The scene where he has years of video-logs to catch up on broke me down. First time I ever got watery eyes in a cinema.

For all Nolans inability to understand how we humans actually feel, that scene was on point.

valve90210 · 18 Jan 2017 at 13:56

The Fountain

hyperseven · 18 Jan 2017 at 15:06

When the wind blows.

Simi · 18 Jan 2017 at 18:44

Sophie's Choice

Simi · 18 Jan 2017 at 18:47

My serious answer has already been posted in op - Requiem for a dream - truly harrowing yet incredibly gripping and watchable.

MookJong · 18 Jan 2017 at 19:16

The Falling (2015)

Very marmite movie, I thought it was stunning.

titaniumx3 · 18 Jan 2017 at 20:24

SixTwoSix said:
I think it counts, whenever I hear Zimmer's "Cornfield Chase" I immediately get a lump in my throat.

As amazing as the visuals are in this movie are, the soundtrack is somehow one step above that in my honest opinion. The main reccuring theme that plays throughout the movie (a leitmotif I think you call it?) is so deeply and expertly intertwined with the movie, I can't imagine one existing without the other.

And yes, it brings out feels like nothing else.

stewski · 18 Jan 2017 at 20:34

titaniumx3 said:
As amazing as the visuals are in this movie are, the soundtrack is somehow one step above that in my honest opinion. The main reccuring theme that plays throughout the movie (a leitmotif I think you call it?) is so deeply and expertly intertwined with the movie, I can't imagine one existing without the other.

And yes, it brings out feels like nothing else.

Personally I find Hans Zimmer more Ham's Zimmer, the bombast on Pirates of the Caribbean is actually grating/off putting.

I can't say interstellar stood out to me, either film-ically or as a score, I certainly couldn't fit it alongside requiem for a dream, or one flew over the cuckoo's nest.

To each his own I guess.

SPG · 18 Jan 2017 at 23:26

Avatar.

caff · 19 Jan 2017 at 00:03

I second those saying A Beautiful Mind. Excellent.

Also:

Notes on Blindness, which is relatively new.

Mr Blonde · 19 Jan 2017 at 00:30

DrToffnar said:
What are the best examples of bleak, dreary and depressing movies that manage to be painfully beautiful and poignant at the same time?

I can't think of a better example of the above than The Pianist : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253474/

arc@css · 19 Jan 2017 at 00:54

1984.